Complete Detail at Munich (EDDM)

What changes at Munich?

Munich sits at 1 487 feet, 28.5 kilometres north-east of the city centre, with two parallel runways each 4 000 metres long. The General Aviation Terminal is on the eastern side of the campus and handles aircraft over two tonnes MTOW that are not operating scheduled or charter legs. Five handling agents work from the GAT—ExecuJet Europe, Lufthansa Technik, MAS Munich Aviation Service, Signature and AHS München—and the terminal itself operates 06:00 to 22:00 local, with office hours from 05:30. Hangars adjacent to the terminal are used for maintenance and short- or long-term parking; short-term rental can be arranged up to three hours before arrival.

Munich is slot-coordinated, and the night regime is strict: between 22:00 and midnight, and again from 05:00 to 06:00, only aircraft on the federal 'bonus list'—or delayed Chapter 3 types—may move. The core night from midnight to 05:00 is reserved for mail, survey flights and individually approved exceptions. In practice, business jets are on the ground overnight, which makes the GAT ideal for multi-day detailing work without pressure on turnaround slots. The terminal has no public-transport access; short-term parking and the P35 car park sit adjacent, which matters when you are bringing polishers, compounds and vacuum equipment to the stand.

Why does a Complete Detail take two to five days?

Paint decontamination pulls embedded fallout, industrial residue and mineral deposits out of the clear coat before the single-stage polish corrects oxidation and micro-marring. Brightwork on nacelles, leading edges and the cheat line is treated separately with metal polish and by hand. Inside, every surface—leather, veneer, carpet, sidewalls, galley, lavatory, flight deck—is cleaned to OEM standards, then the cabin is disinfected. Each step has a dwell time, a cure time or a temperature window, and none of them can be rushed.

The range reflects aircraft size, exterior condition and how much of the interior is bespoke. A super-midsize jet with factory cabin materials and well-maintained paint will sit at the lower end; an ultra-long-range airframe with custom veneer, neglected brightwork and a belly that has seen a winter of operations will need the full five days. We work in the hangar whenever the handler can offer it, because controlled temperature and clean air make the difference between a durable polish and a surface that hazes again in a month.

What does the handler expect from a third-party detailing crew at the GAT?

Handling agents at Munich expect airside-pass holders, an escort if required, and a crew that knows the difference between a GPU lead and a pitot cover. We arrive with our own equipment—polishers, vacuum, steam, compounds, microfibre, disinfectant—so the handler does not need to source consumables. If the aircraft is in the hangar, we coordinate entry and exit times with the handler's ramp team. If it is on the stand, we work around tug movements, fuel trucks and catering vans without blocking access.

The GAT closes at 22:00, and FBO work outside the 06:00–22:00 window is on request only. That means a multi-day detail is scheduled in daylight blocks, with the aircraft secured overnight. The handler logs our presence in the tech log if we open panels or work near static ports; we never touch avionics, and we cover pitot tubes and static ports before any wet work begins. ExecuJet lists cleaning among its own services, so when we are on-site we make it clear we are there at the operator's request, not as a competitor to the handler's offering.

How does Munich's climate affect paint and cabin materials?

Southern Bavaria sees cold winters, warm summers and year-round humidity that sits in the clear coat. Winter operations mean Type I and Type IV fluid on the wings, salt and grit on the belly, and standing water in the gear bays. Spring brings tree pollen that bonds to the paint if it is not removed within a week. Summer delivers insect strikes on the leading edges and nacelles, and UV that accelerates oxidation on any panel facing south. Autumn is short and wet.

Inside, the cabin swings between cold-soaked overnight and climate-controlled during the day. Leather dries and cracks if the aircraft sits unused; veneer absorbs moisture if the environmental system is off for days. The flight deck collects dust from the GAT apron whenever the door is open for loading. A Complete Detail twice a year—once before summer, once before winter—keeps the paint hydrophobic, the brightwork reflective and the cabin at the standard a pre-buy inspector or a new owner expects to see.

Is this recurring work or a one-off visit?

Both. Some operators schedule a Complete Detail at Munich twice a year as part of a fleet-wide appearance programme: once in spring after the winter de-icing season, once in autumn before the aircraft heads south or into storage. Others call us for a single visit before a pre-buy inspection, a delivery flight or a change of registration. The service is the same either way—exterior decontamination and polish, brightwork, full interior, disinfection, photographic report—but the rhythm is different.

Recurring work means we know the aircraft, we have a baseline set of photographs, and we can track how the paint and cabin age between visits. One-off work means we start with a walk-around and a cabin survey, then write a scope that reflects what the aircraft needs and what the calendar allows. If you are selling, the buyer's surveyor will photograph everything; if you are taking delivery, the first impression matters. Either way, a Complete Detail at Munich puts the airframe in reference condition before the next chapter begins.

How do you time a multi-day detail between operational legs?

We build the schedule around your flight plan, the handler's hangar availability and the GAT's operating hours. If the aircraft arrives late afternoon, we start the exterior wash the following morning and move into the hangar by mid-morning once a stand becomes available. Decontamination and polish happen on day two and three, brightwork on day three or four, cabin detail and disinfection on the final day. The photographic report is delivered before you leave, so there is a record of the work and the condition.

If you have a departure slot on day four, we finish by day three and leave the aircraft on the stand overnight, clean and ready for pre-flight. If the slot moves or a PPR changes, we adapt—but the core-night curfew and the 22:00 terminal closure mean there is no option to work through the night and deliver at dawn. Munich's night restrictions are an advantage for detailing: the aircraft is on the ground, the ramp is quiet, and there is no pressure to rush a polish or skip a section of the cabin because a passenger is boarding in an hour.