Ceramic Coating at Salerno Costa d'Amalfi (LIRI)

What changes at Salerno Costa d'Amalfi for a ceramic detail?

Salerno Costa d'Amalfi reopened to scheduled traffic in July 2024 after its single runway—05/23—was extended to 2,000 metres; the works ran from 2020 through February that year. The airport sits at 123 feet elevation, roughly 21 kilometres from Salerno itself. GESAC, the Naples airport company, operates the field, but the infrastructure is still being built out: a new passenger terminal with five gates and a dedicated general-aviation terminal are both planned, with full operation expected in 2026 or 2027. Right now GA facilities are transitional, which means we coordinate every hangar booking and ground-power source well in advance.

The airport is not slot-coordinated and offers customs as an airport of entry. For a ceramic detail the critical constraint is enclosed space: we need a clean hangar for the entire duration—paint correction raises dust, and ceramic cure requires stable temperature and low humidity. Because the permanent GA infrastructure is not yet complete, we lock in hangar access and confirm ventilation, lighting, and GPU availability before we issue a work order. If your fleet schedule includes multiple visits to the Amalfi coast, we can pre-position consumables and calibrate a recurring maintenance interval so that each ceramic refresh happens on your timeline, not ours.

Why does ceramic protection take three to six days?

The calendar is driven by chemistry and by the condition of the paint when the aircraft arrives. We start with a clay-bar decontamination to lift embedded rail dust, exhaust particulate, and mineral deposits that washing alone will not remove. Next comes paint correction: a multi-stage machine polish that removes oxidation, swirl marks, and light scratches, restoring gloss and preparing a molecularly clean surface for the ceramic. Only then do we apply the first ceramic layer, allow it to flash, and apply the second. Brightwork—wing leading edges, nacelle lips, any polished aluminium—receives its own ceramic formulation, and all glass gets a hydrophobic topcoat.

Between application and release we hold the aircraft in the hangar while the ceramic cross-links and hardens. Rushing the cure invites streaking, uneven bonding, and early failure. If the paint arrived heavily oxidised or if the airframe has not seen a polish in several years, correction alone can add a day. Conversely, an aircraft six months out of the paint shop and already on a maintenance plan will move through faster. We give you a firm timeline after the pre-inspection, and we update the duty pilot daily so there are no surprises at the FBO.

What does a handling agent expect when we bring a third-party detailing crew to Salerno?

Handling agents present at the airport expect advance notice, a clear scope of work, and proof that the detailing crew holds airside passes or will be escorted throughout. We send a crew brief forty-eight hours before arrival: names, passport numbers, vehicle registrations, the hangar we have booked, and the equipment we will bring onto the apron. The handler wants to know whether we need a tug, external power, potable water for a final rinse, and how long the aircraft will occupy the stand before it moves to the hangar.

Because Salerno's GA facilities are still transitional, the handler also needs to know which consumables we carry ourselves—ceramic product, polish, microfibre, inspection lights—and which services we expect on-site. We do not assume the presence of a wash rack or a heated hangar; we confirm every detail in writing. If your aircraft arrives on a turnaround and the cabin crew want to restock galleys or clean lavatories while we prepare the exterior, we coordinate timing so that no one is working across another trade. The handler appreciates a single point of contact, a realistic schedule, and a crew that cleans up its own waste water and polish residue before releasing the stand.

How does the Mediterranean climate affect paint and the ceramic layer?

The Amalfi coast enjoys mild winters and hot, dry summers, but that same sun that draws tourists also accelerates ultraviolet degradation of clear coat. Unprotected paint oxidises faster, losing gloss and developing a chalky surface that holds contamination. Salt aerosol drifts inland from the Tyrrhenian Sea, settling on the airframe and etching the paint if it is not rinsed promptly. In summer, surface temperatures on a dark fuselage can exceed fifty degrees Celsius on the ramp, baking on dust and making every subsequent wash harder.

A cured ceramic layer changes the equation: the hydrophobic surface sheds water and light contamination, the chemical resistance blunts salt and bird-lime etching, and the UV inhibitors in the ceramic slow clear-coat oxidation. Between scheduled washes the aircraft simply stays cleaner. When you do wash, you use less friction and fewer chemicals, which extends the life of the underlying paint. We see the greatest return on ceramic protection when the aircraft operates in a coastal or high-UV environment and the flight department wants to stretch the interval to repaint. The maintenance plan we hand over specifies rinse frequency and the recommended boost treatment—usually a spray sealant—at twelve and twenty-four months.

Can ceramic coating be applied over existing wax or sealant?

No. Ceramic bonds at the molecular level to paint, and any residual wax, oil, or polymer sealant will prevent proper adhesion. During the decontamination phase we strip all previous layers—wax, spray sealant, glaze—using a solvent panel-wipe and clay bar. If the aircraft has been through a franchise wash that applied a polymer 'shine product,' we may need an additional solvent pass to ensure the paint is completely bare. We verify cleanliness with an isopropyl wipe test on several panels; if the cloth comes away with colour or residue, we repeat the process.

This is why we ask for the maintenance history before we quote: an aircraft that has been waxed every month for three years requires more prep than one that has seen only water washes. Once the ceramic is cured, you do not wax over it—doing so would simply hide the ceramic and forfeit the benefits you paid for. Instead, the maintenance plan calls for pH-neutral rinseless washes and, if desired, a ceramic boost spray at the mid-life point. The boost recharges the hydrophobic effect without adding thickness or creating layers that will eventually need to be stripped.

What happens if we need the aircraft back early?

We build a buffer into every ceramic schedule, but if an AOG or an owner trip pulls the aircraft out of the hangar before the ceramic has fully cured, the coating will not perform as specified and the warranty is void. The cross-link process is time- and temperature-dependent; interrupting it leaves a soft, uneven layer that will streak in the first rain and wear off in weeks rather than years. If you know the schedule is uncertain, a better choice is a single-stage polish and spray sealant, which can be completed in one long day and still delivers a measurable improvement in gloss and contamination resistance.

When the schedule is firm and the aircraft will remain in the hangar for the full duration, we can often compress the calendar slightly—starting earlier in the day, overlapping cure time with brightwork coating, bringing a second polisher for a large airframe—but we will not release the aircraft until the ceramic is hard. We have walked away from work rather than apply a product that we know will fail. If your fleet operates on tight turnarounds, talk to us about scheduling ceramic during a planned heavy maintenance visit or at the end of a charter season, when the aircraft can afford to sit for a week.