Exterior Dry Wash at Lyon-Saint-Exupéry (LFLL)

Why choose a dry wash over a conventional rinse at Lyon?

Water access on the apron is tightly managed at most European city hubs, and Lyon is no exception. A rinseless exterior clean eliminates the need for a dedicated wash bay, effluent capture or municipal discharge permits. The waterless products we use are designed to encapsulate dirt and lift it away from the paint without scratching, so bug strikes on the radome, exhaust soot around the APU outlet and hydraulic mist along the belly all come off without a hose.

Operationally, that means no towing to a remote hardstand, no waiting for a bay slot and no weather delays if the temperature drops overnight. We bring the kit to the aircraft—whether it is parked at the handling agent's apron or on a remote stand—set up lighting if needed, and work through the clean while the cabin crew restock or the pilots file the next flight plan. For fleets running tight turnarounds or back-to-back charters, the dry-wash window often fits inside the minimum ground time.

What changes at Lyon-Saint-Exupéry that affects scheduling?

The airport sits at 821 feet elevation, twenty kilometres east of Lyon city centre, and operates around the clock. COHOR schedule facilitation applies to all IFR movements between 06:00 and 22:59 local, but the handling agents advertise twenty-four-seven service for business aviation, so early-morning or late-evening dry washes are entirely feasible if the slot and crew-rest rules allow it.

Lyon-Saint-Exupéry has two parallel runways: the primary is four thousand metres, the secondary two thousand six hundred and seventy. Most super-midsize and larger business jets will use the longer runway, which keeps taxi times predictable. Because the airport also markets Lyon-Bron (LFLY) for hangar storage and long-term based aircraft, Saint-Exupéry tends to see more transient traffic—short stops, crew changes, same-day turnarounds—which is exactly the profile that benefits from a quick exterior refresh between legs.

One practical note: if the aircraft arrives cold-soaked from a high-altitude cruise and you want the dry wash completed before departure, make sure the GPU is connected early. Waterless chemistry works best on a surface that is close to ambient temperature, and a frozen leading edge will not release bug residue cleanly until it warms through.

How does airside access and coordination work at LFLL?

We hold permanent airside passes for Lyon-Saint-Exupéry and coordinate every visit directly with the handling agent named in your flight plan. Once the aircraft is on stand and the captain signs the tech log, the handler radios our team leader with the parking position and any special instructions—GPU already connected, pitot covers on, no-touch avionance panel aft of the entry door, that sort of detail.

If you are using a handler we have worked with before, the process is entirely transparent: they expect us, they know the dry-wash routine produces no runoff and they clear us onto the ramp as soon as the engines spool down. If it is a new handler or an unscheduled diversion, a quick call from the dispatcher or chief pilot thirty minutes out is usually enough to smooth the coordination. We carry our own lighting, trestles and access steps, so the only resource we need from the handler is the stand itself and, ideally, a GPU if the APU is going to be shut down for noise or fuel economy.

What does the exterior dry-wash sequence cover?

The clean starts at the nose: radome, windscreen, forward fuselage, then methodically aft along both sides. Bug residue on the leading edges and nacelle inlets comes off with a dedicated pre-soak; exhaust staining around the APU outlet and tail cone gets a separate degreasing step. We work the belly and main-gear bays from a low trestle, lifting hydraulic film, brake dust and any oil weep marks that have appeared since the last wash.

Wings, winglets and empennage are cleaned in sequence, including the underside of horizontal stabs where exhaust soot tends to settle. All exterior lights—navigation, strobe, landing, taxi—are wiped, and the static ports are inspected but never touched with product. Finally, we polish the windscreen and cabin windows from the outside, check the cheat line for streaks and do a walk-around to confirm we have not missed a panel join or a gear-door edge.

Brightwork—leading-edge strips, nacelle lips, door handles—gets a light touch-up if it is dull, but a dry wash will not restore heavy oxidation; that requires a separate polish. At the end, the captain or dispatcher receives a photo report: before shots, any paint chips or surface damage noted, and after shots showing the cleaned aircraft ready for the next leg.

How long does a dry wash take, and can it fit between legs?

Duration depends on aircraft size and how dirty the airframe is. A super-midsize jet with light soiling—two weeks since the last clean, mostly dust and a few bug strikes—will take three to four hours with a two-person team. An ultra-long-range aircraft that has been crossing the Atlantic twice a week and has not seen a wash in a month can stretch to seven or eight hours, especially if the belly is heavily filmed and the nacelles have baked-on exhaust residue.

For a typical same-day turnaround at Lyon—aircraft lands mid-morning, departs late afternoon—a four-hour dry wash fits comfortably inside the ground time, provided we start as soon as the aircraft is released by the handler. If the turnaround is tighter, we can prioritise the fuselage, wings and tail, then come back to the belly and gear bays on the next visit. Charter operators running sequential legs often schedule a full dry wash every two to four weeks and a quick nacelle and belly touch-up in between, which keeps the aircraft presentable without blocking a departure slot.

Does it make sense to set up recurring dry washes if Lyon is a regular rotation?

Absolutely. If your fleet or charter programme touches Lyon-Saint-Exupéry weekly or fortnightly, a standing dry-wash schedule takes one variable off the dispatcher's plate. We log the tail number, the usual handler, the preferred parking zone and the typical ground time, then monitor your flight plan automatically. Twenty-four hours before each visit, we confirm the arrival slot and the expected turnaround, and the team is on the ramp waiting when you block in.

Recurring work also lets us track the aircraft's condition over time. We note when a nacelle starts to show more exhaust staining than usual—often an early flag for an engine that is running slightly rich—or when a belly panel is weeping hydraulic fluid. That kind of detail goes into the photo report and the tech-log entry, so the flight crew and maintenance controller have a heads-up before the next inspection. For fleets that split their European operation between Lyon and another hub, we can coordinate the dry-wash interval so the aircraft gets a full exterior clean at one base and a lighter touch-up at the other, keeping the appearance consistent without doubling the cost or the downtime.