Exterior Dry Wash at Pantelleria (LICG)

What does a dry wash deliver on the Pantelleria ramp?

A complete exterior clean—fuselage, wings, tail, nacelles—using waterless products that lift and encapsulate dirt without a drop of rinse water. We spray, agitate and wipe in overlapping passes, removing bug strikes from leading edges, exhaust carbon from the tail cone, hydraulic mist from gear doors and the general grime that accumulates on every flight. Belly panels and landing-gear struts are degreased with separate product; exterior windows, position lights and the windscreen are polished to optical clarity.

Brightwork—leading-edge strips, nacelle lips—receives a light wipe to restore reflectivity, though this is touch-up work rather than a full polish cycle. The result is an aircraft that looks freshly washed, achieved in three to eight hours depending on size and initial condition, without tying up a wash bay or waiting for a tug to the other side of the airfield. Recommended interval is every two to four weeks for jets in regular service, shorter if you are island-hopping through dust or salt air.

What changes at Pantelleria?

Pantelleria sits at 635 feet elevation on a small volcanic island midway between Sicily and Tunisia. The single runway—07/25, 1 735 metres—serves scheduled turboprops, military movements from the Italian Air Force detachment that shares the field, and general aviation through a dedicated terminal run by G.A.P. S.p.A., the handler providing ground assistance, cleaning and facility maintenance. Airport operations passed to Enac Servizi in December 2025, but G.A.P. continues all ramp services.

For a dry-wash crew, this means coordination through one handler, work performed on the general-aviation apron adjacent to the terminal on Via Venezia, and no separate wash-bay infrastructure. The island's water supply is precious—most comes from desalination or seasonal rainfall—so waterless methods are the sensible choice. Military traffic and scheduled services share the same runway and taxiway, which keeps slots tight during peak summer months; a three-hour dry wash between legs is far easier to schedule than a tow to a remote stand, a rinse cycle and a return tug.

The historic underground Nervi hangar—340 metres long, 26 metres wide, completed in 1939—remains on the field but is not used for transient business-aviation work. Everything happens outside, under the Mediterranean sun or the occasional sirocco wind that carries Saharan dust across the strait.

How does the handler manage a third-party detailing crew at Pantelleria?

The handler expects advance notice—typically forty-eight hours—so airside passes, stand allocation and any GPU or ladder support can be arranged before the aircraft blocks in. We provide our own insurance certificate, a list of crew names and passport numbers for pass issuance, and a method statement that confirms no water runoff, no chemical discharge and no interference with adjacent stands or taxiways. The handler will escort us airside if our passes are visitor-grade rather than long-term; if we are working a regular charter program through the summer, seasonal passes streamline the process.

On the day, the handler confirms the stand, verifies that the aircraft is chocked and that external power or APU arrangements are settled, then steps back. We document the pre-work condition with time-stamped photographs—close-ups of any existing scratches, paint chips or corrosion so there is no ambiguity later—and again at completion. A two-page report with before-and-after images goes to the captain or dispatcher before the next leg, countersigned if the tech log requires a maintenance entry for external servicing. The handler appreciates crews who clean up their own towel waste and empty product bottles rather than leaving them on the apron; it is a small courtesy that makes the next visit smoother.

What does volcanic dust and salt air do to the paint between washes?

Pantelleria's position in the central Mediterranean means the aircraft is exposed to salt spray on every approach and departure, while sirocco winds from North Africa deposit fine volcanic dust and Saharan sand that bonds to any oily film on the fuselage. Left unwashed, this combination forms a cement-like layer that dulls the paint, clogs panel gaps and accelerates corrosion on aluminium brightwork. Bug strikes from coastal insects add protein residue that etches clear coat if it sits in the sun for more than a few days.

A dry wash every two weeks breaks the cycle. The waterless chemistry emulsifies salt and dust without abrading the paint, lifting the contamination into the microfibre towel rather than smearing it across the surface. Belly panels and gear bays—where hydraulic mist traps the heaviest dust—get a dedicated degreaser pass to prevent build-up that would otherwise require a pressure wash later in the season. Operators flying Pantelleria as part of a Sicilian or North African charter loop find that fortnightly dry washes keep the aircraft presentable without the expense and downtime of a full decon and polish mid-summer.

Can you fit a dry wash into a quick island turnaround?

If the aircraft is on the ground for six hours or more—common during a lunch stop or an overnight—we can complete a dry wash for a super-midsize jet and have it ready for the next departure. Larger aircraft or heavily soiled examples push toward the eight-hour mark, which means either an overnight stay or a day-stop with passengers ashore. The advantage over a traditional wash is that we need no tug, no wash bay, no wait for the stand to drain; we work at the arrival stand, around refuelling and catering, and finish while the cabin crew are still provisioning.

Coordination with the handler is essential: they need to know we will have ladders and trestles around the aircraft so they can sequence the fuel truck and the catering van accordingly. If the turnaround is tighter—three hours gate-to-gate—we can focus on the fuselage waterline, the nose, the windscreen and the visible belly, leaving the upper wing and tail for the next longer stop. It is not a full service, but it keeps the aircraft from looking neglected when the owner boards at sunset for the hop to Palermo or Malta.

Why does the photo report matter as much as the clean itself?

Because the aircraft arrives with existing wear—paint chips on the nose from runway debris, scratches on the belly from a previous ramp scrape, corrosion spots on a nacelle hinge—and without a visual record, every blemish becomes a potential dispute. We photograph the entire aircraft before we touch it: close-ups of any damage, wide shots of each panel, time and date stamps embedded in the file metadata. The same process at completion, often with the handler or captain present, so everyone agrees on what was cleaned and what was already there.

The report goes into the aircraft's service file and travels with the tech log. If a subsequent inspector queries a mark on the tail cone, the photo evidence shows it predated our visit. For fleet operators running multiple aircraft through Pantelleria during the summer, the reports become a maintenance trend tool: if every jet is picking up leading-edge chips at this airport, perhaps the stand assignment or the taxiway surface needs attention. It is paperwork, but it is paperwork that protects both the operator and the detailing crew from misunderstandings that waste time and money.