Exterior Dry Wash at Marseille Provence (LFML)

What changes at Marseille Provence for exterior dry wash?

Marseille Provence sits at 70 feet elevation with two runways—13L/31R at 3,500 metres and 13R/31L at 2,370 metres—27 kilometres north-west of the city centre at Marignane. The airport operates H24 with no slot coordination and no curfew, so aircraft can arrive for a dry wash at any hour without PPR delays. Jetex Marseille staffs the Terminal Aviation Générale around the clock on VHF 131.460, and customs and immigration clear at the FBO day or night.

Handling is mandatory under the AIP: the agent must be contacted before departure from your origin aerodrome, and our detailing crew gains airside access through that handler. We coordinate arrival time, stand assignment and GPU availability with Jetex in advance, then drive directly to the aircraft once it is chocked and the tech log signed off. Because the airport is H24 and Level 1 (no schedules facilitation), you can position an aircraft for a dry wash overnight or between morning and afternoon legs without competing for slots.

Winter in Provence is mild but damp; summer heat accelerates the curing of exhaust residue on nacelles and the belly. We adjust dwell time for waterless cleaner accordingly, and all work stays compliant with the airport's environmental rules—no runoff crosses the apron, and waste cloths leave airside in sealed containers.

How does airside access work at LFML for a detailing crew?

Because handling is mandatory at Marseille Provence, our team coordinates with Jetex before every job. We send passport copies and vehicle registration 48 hours ahead; Jetex issues the airside escort and confirms the stand number. On the day, we meet the handler's duty officer at the FBO, collect the escort and drive to the aircraft. If your flight department has already arranged handling for fuel and catering, we fold into that same notification—no separate handler call required on your side.

The Terminal Aviation Générale sits on the western apron, and most business-jet stands are within two minutes' drive. We carry all dry-wash product, microfibre cloths, brushes and step-ladders in our van, so the only airport resource we need is the stand itself and, ideally, GPU if you want avionics and galleys kept cold during the wash. Jetex can also arrange a tow to a quieter stand if the assigned parking is needed for another arrival mid-job; we simply follow the tug and resume work on the new spot.

What does the photo report include after each dry wash?

Every exterior dry wash at Marseille Provence generates a digital photo report emailed within two hours of completion. We shoot the aircraft from eight angles—nose, tail, both profiles, both winglets, belly access panels and the cheat line—before we begin, then repeat the sequence when the job is finished. Close-ups document any pre-existing paint chips on leading edges, scratches near door handles or hydraulic stains on gear-bay doors, so your tech log and insurance file stay accurate.

The report lists the arrival time, stand number, aircraft registration, Hobbs or flight hours if visible on the tech log, ambient temperature and any deferred work—typically nacelle areas we cannot reach without a ladder taller than four metres. Flight-department managers use these reports to track wash intervals: if you see a four-week gap between LFML cleans, you know the next one is due. Charter ops forward the before-and-after images to owners as proof of care between legs, and some chief pilots append the PDF to the journey log for each Marseille stop.

Can you turn around a dry wash between morning arrival and afternoon departure?

Yes, provided the block is at least four hours for a super-midsize and six for an ultra-long-range type. We start as soon as the handler signs the aircraft over to the captain and you release it for cleaning—usually ten minutes after chocks. One technician works the fuselage and wings; a second tackles the belly, gear bays and nacelles. We avoid opening any panel that requires a tech-log entry, but we do lift the nose gear door if it is a piano-hinge type with no locking pin, so we can degrease the bay and wipe down the steering actuator.

If your departure slot—though Marseille Provence does not require slots—moves forward, we prioritise the fuselage, empennage and visible nacelle halves, then photograph the state of the belly and email you a quote to finish it during the next visit. Most turnarounds at LFML are outbound to London, Geneva or Nice, and crews prefer the aircraft to look clean on the passenger side even if the belly work is deferred. We have turned around a Challenger 650 in three and a half hours when the owner added an unplanned lunch meeting in Aix-en-Provence, but that pace demands two technicians and perfect weather.

Is Marseille Provence better for recurring dry wash or one-off jobs?

Both models work. Flight departments that base an aircraft at LFML—or rotate through monthly for Mediterranean charters—book us every three to four weeks, and we store the photo history so each report compares the current state to the previous wash. Recurring cleans cost less per visit because we know the aircraft, the handler and the usual stand, and we can pre-position product in our van the night before.

One-off dry washes suit positioning flights: you fly empty from Farnborough to Marseille, we clean the aircraft in six hours, and you continue to Olbia or Ibiza with a polished exterior and no water spots. Because the airport is H24 and Jetex operates around the clock, we have started washes at midnight when an owner wanted the jet ready for a dawn departure to Marrakech. The only constraint is our own technician roster—we ask for 72 hours' notice so we can pull a second crew member from Nice or Cannes if the job overlaps with another booking.

Charter operators sometimes use Marseille Provence as a decon and dry-wash stop between contracts: the outgoing client disembarks, we clean the exterior and vacuum the cabin, and the new client boards three hours later. That rhythm works well at LFML because customs and immigration are on site H24, so you can clear two different passenger manifests in one day without repositioning to another airport of entry.

What happens if weather interrupts a dry wash on the ramp at Marseille?

Dry wash requires no rain and ideally less than 25 knots of wind; above that, dust blows back onto wet panels before we can buff them. Marseille Provence sits near the coast, and the Mistral can gust to 35 knots in winter and spring. If the forecast shows wind or rain arriving mid-job, we either start earlier—Jetex will arrange a stand even at 06:00—or pause the wash and resume when the front passes. The waterless product does not harm paint if left on for a few hours, but we prefer to finish each section before moving to the next.

If rain begins after we have started, we towel off the cleaned sections to prevent water spots, cover pitot probes and static ports, then wait in the FBO. Most showers at LFML last less than an hour. When the apron dries, we return and continue. The photo report notes any weather delay and adjusts the completion time accordingly, so your tech log reflects the actual duration. In three years we have abandoned only two washes at Marseille Provence—both during all-day rain in November—and in each case we rescheduled for the following morning at no extra positioning fee.