Fleet Care Program at Munich (EDDM)

What changes at Munich for fleet programs?

Munich sits at 1487 feet, with two parallel runways each 4000 metres long and the General Aviation Terminal on the eastern side of the campus, 28.5 kilometres from central Munich. The GAT handles aircraft over two tonnes MTOW that are not operating as scheduled or charter services, and it closes at 22:00 local; the office opens at 05:30, and operational hours run 06:00 to 22:00. Five handling agents work the terminal—ExecuJet Europe, Lufthansa Technik, MAS Munich Aviation Service, Signature and AHS München—and ExecuJet lists cleaning among its own offerings, so third-party crews need handler approval before stepping onto the ramp.

Night restrictions apply from 22:00 to 06:00: 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. Most business jets therefore sit on stand overnight, which suits a fleet program: you can schedule cabin work or a rinseless wash during the quiet hours, provided the handler agrees and the GAT arranges airside escort. Munich is also slot-coordinated, so any delay in a turnaround can ripple through your PPR window and push the next leg into a restricted period.

The GAT's hangars are used for maintenance and short- or long-term parking; short-term hangar rental can be ordered up to three hours before arrival, which matters when winter weather or a decon requirement means you need covered space. There is no public transport to the GAT—short-term parking and the P35 car park sit adjacent—so bringing detailing equipment, a trolley of microfibre or a steam generator to the terminal means either a handler escort from the public side or pre-arranged vehicle access through the cargo gate.

How does a twelve-month program fit recurring operations at Munich?

If your fleet operates a regular pattern—morning departures, evening returns, weekly shuttles to London or Zürich, seasonal charters to the Alps—the program calendar mirrors that rhythm. You tell us which tail numbers are based at Munich or pass through on a predictable cycle, and we build a service matrix: quick turns (dry wash, glass, galley wipe) after every second or third leg, monthly deep interiors during longer ground times, and seasonal exteriors with brightwork when the aircraft is due a stand-down or a lighter week. The calendar lives in a shared document, updated each month as your schedule firms up, so there are no surprise invoices and no last-minute scrambles to find a detailing slot.

Handlers at the GAT expect third-party contractors to arrive with an airside pass or accept a handler escort, present a method statement if you are using water or chemical decon, and stay within the stand or hangar allocated for the service. For a fleet program that means one method statement covers the year, one set of crew badges, and one standing arrangement with the handler's duty manager. If an aircraft goes tech and you need an AOG interior clean before a replacement crew arrives, the program gives you priority: we already know the tail, the handler already has our paperwork, and the crew can be on the ramp within two hours of your call.

What does the service calendar include?

The calendar starts with your flight schedule and works backwards. You provide us with expected rotation dates, maintenance windows, and any seasonal peaks—December charter runs, summer positioning legs—and we slot in the recurring services: quick turns after short hops, full interiors once a month or after high-load flights, exteriors every quarter or when the belly picks up de-icing residue. Each entry notes the service type, estimated duration, and whether it needs hangar space or can happen on stand. If your schedule changes—a charter extends, a maintenance check moves forward—you update the calendar and we shift the services to match.

Every visit generates a service report: photos of leading edges, nacelles, the cheat line and belly before and after; notes on any new paint chips, corrosion spots on the gear bays, or cabin wear that needs attention; and a checklist of tasks completed. The reports go into a shared folder, so at the end of each quarter you can sit down with your operations team, review the condition trend, and decide whether to add a single-stage polish in spring or schedule a deeper cabin refresh before the summer season. The program also includes one quarterly review meeting—remote or in person—where we walk through the service history, flag any recurring issues, and adjust the calendar for the next three months.

How does priority AOG cover work within the program?

AOG requests come in two flavours: the aircraft is on the ground with a tech issue and needs a cabin clean before a replacement crew arrives, or a flight diverts to Munich and the interior has to be turned around in two hours because the passengers are waiting. Within a fleet program, your tail numbers sit at the top of the allocation list. When you call, we already have your aircraft profile—cabin layout, OEM materials, any no-touch avionics, pitot and static port locations—and the handler already has our method statement and insurance on file, so there is no negotiation about access or timing.

If the GAT is closed and the aircraft is on a remote stand, we coordinate with the handler's night duty manager to arrange escort and GPU if cabin power is needed. If the request comes during daytime hours and another service is running, we pull a second crew from the standby rota. The program fee covers priority allocation and 24/7 phone access; the actual AOG service is billed separately, but because you are already in the program the rate is lower than a walk-up call and the invoice rolls into your monthly statement rather than arriving as a separate surprise.

What does a fixed monthly budget per tail mean in practice?

At the start of the program, we estimate the annual service load for each tail number—how many quick turns, how many monthly interiors, how many seasonal exteriors—and divide the total by twelve. You pay the same amount every month, regardless of whether that month is heavy (three services because the aircraft returned from a charter with a full decon requirement) or light (one quick turn because the jet was in maintenance for two weeks). The budget includes all scheduled services in the calendar, service reports and photos, and priority AOG access; it does not include the AOG service itself, any unscheduled work such as a bird-strike clean or a spilled-beverage emergency, or upgrades like a ceramic coating or a full gear-bay detail.

The fixed budget makes it easier to forecast your annual appearance cost and removes the monthly variability that comes with pay-per-service billing. If your flight schedule changes significantly—you add a fourth tail to the Munich base, or one aircraft moves to a different hub—we recalculate the monthly figure at the next quarterly review. If you consistently underspend because the aircraft are flying less than forecast, we adjust downward; if you consistently overspend because charter demand is higher, we adjust upward. The goal is to land within five per cent of actual cost over the twelve months, so neither side carries a large balance at renewal.

Who manages the program day to day, and how do schedule changes get handled?

You have one program contact—usually the crew lead who knows your fleet—and one operations contact on your side, typically the chief pilot, the flight-department manager or the charter ops coordinator. When a schedule change comes in, your ops contact emails or calls the program contact with the new rotation dates, and we update the calendar within 24 hours. If a service needs to move from Tuesday morning to Wednesday evening because a flight delayed, we confirm the new slot with the handler and send you a revised calendar entry. If a service has to cancel because the aircraft diverted or went into unscheduled maintenance, we note it in the calendar and either roll it into the following week or bank the credit against a future month.

For AOG or unscheduled requests, you call the program contact directly; the number is staffed around the clock, and the contact has standing authority to dispatch a crew without waiting for a formal purchase order. For planned changes—adding a sixth interior detail in December because charter loads are high, or scheduling an extra exterior in March because the belly is still streaked with Type IV fluid—your ops contact and the program contact agree the addition during a monthly check-in call, and the extra cost either comes out of the annual budget (if there is headroom) or gets billed separately at the program rate.