Fleet Care Program at Split Kaštela (LDSP)
Twelve-month appearance plans for charter operators and corporate flight departments on the Dalmatian coast
The Fleet Care Program at Split Kaštela (LDSP) is a twelve-month appearance contract for charter operators, corporate flight departments and FBOs with aircraft based on the Adriatic. We build a service calendar around your flight schedule—quick turns between legs, monthly cabin work, seasonal exterior washes and brightwork correction—and assign a dedicated crew who know your aircraft. You receive one invoice each month, priority allocation when you need an AOG turnaround, and a service history with photographs for every visit. The programme is designed for fleets that operate repeatedly through Split and want predictable appearance standards without negotiating each job separately.
05/23 · 2550 m
AIP and airport data78 ft
20 km
SplitWhy does recurring work at Split Kaštela need a different approach?
Charter and corporate operators flying the summer Adriatic circuit face a rhythm that one-off detailing cannot match. Aircraft return to Split every few days; cabins accumulate sand, sunscreen and salt haze; exteriors pick up apron dust and seabird strikes. A fleet programme synchronises appearance work with your rotation: a rinseless exterior and vacuum between morning departure and afternoon charter, a deep cabin clean on the overnight, a single-stage polish and decon before the aircraft repositions to winter base in October.
We hold your service calendar and update it as your schedule changes. When a tail number lands, the allocated crew already knows the cheat line that stains easily, the galley cabinet that needs careful wiping, the gear-bay area the last handler's tug scratched. You do not re-explain the aircraft each time, and we do not quote each time. The operations tempo at a resort field during high season rewards this kind of familiarity.
What changes at Split Kaštela that affects a twelve-month appearance plan?
Split is a schedules-facilitated airport from 29 March through 24 October: general and business aviation must agree arrival and departure times with the Traffic Coordinator or Ground OPS Centre no earlier than fourteen days before the flight, stopovers longer than forty minutes depend on parking-stand availability, and aircraft without confirmed slots and parking can be refused landing. That coordination window shapes when we can schedule exterior work or a cabin detail that needs three hours on stand.
The single runway—2,550 metres of asphalt, designation 05/23, ICAO code 4E—sits at 78 feet on Kaštela Bay. Reference temperature in July is 29 °C. Coastal salt air, hot summers and the bay's humidity mean brightwork tarnishes faster than at an inland base, and any wax or sealant you applied in April will have degraded by August. A fleet programme lets us re-apply hydrophobic coatings on a seasonal cadence rather than waiting for the paint to look dull. The same sea-level, salt-air environment that attracts charters also accelerates corrosion on leading edges and nacelle lips if left unaddressed between peak-season flights.
Handling agents are present at the airport; we coordinate stand access and GPU supply through them once your slot and parking are confirmed. Because Split operates as a resort field with heavy summer airline traffic, having a pre-agreed detailing calendar and a named contact on the apron reduces the friction of last-minute requests when stand availability is tight.
How does the service calendar work around our flight schedule?
At the start of the twelve-month term we take your expected rotation—summer Adriatic charters, off-season repositioning, maintenance windows—and draft a calendar: quick exterior turns every second visit, full cabin detail monthly, brightwork and polish in April and September, gear-bay decon before winter storage. As your actual schedule firms up or changes, you send us updates and we shift the calendar. If a charter cancels and the aircraft will sit on stand for six hours instead of ninety minutes, we move the planned interior forward. If weather delays push your inbound from Olbia by a day, we adjust the crew allocation.
The goal is to make appearance work invisible to your commercial operation. You should not be calling us the morning of a flight asking whether a wash is possible; we already know the aircraft is due, the stand is confirmed, and the crew is rostered. For AOG requests—bird strike, hydraulic leak staining the belly, cabin spill before a charter—the fleet programme gives you priority: we pull resource from the general queue because we have already reserved capacity for your tails each month.
What does the fixed monthly budget cover, and what falls outside it?
Each tail number in the programme carries a fixed monthly fee that covers the agreed calendar: typically two to four quick exteriors (rinseless or dry wash, depending on apron water rules and season), one full cabin detail, glass and brightwork touch-up, and a quarterly exterior polish. The fee also includes service history documentation, photo records uploaded after every visit, priority AOG allocation, and the quarterly appearance review with your operations team. You pay the same amount each month regardless of whether we perform two services or five, so long as the work falls within the agreed calendar.
Outside the budget: major paint correction (multi-stage compounding after hail or heavy oxidation), full aircraft decon if the aircraft has been operating in a contaminated environment, and any work requested beyond the calendar without prior adjustment. If you add an unscheduled charter leg and want a cabin detail on six hours' notice, we will do it under the priority-access clause, but it will appear as a separate line item. The monthly fee is designed to cover predictable, recurring appearance work, not every possible contingency. Most fleet operators find that ninety per cent of their detailing needs fall inside the programme, and the few out-of-scope jobs are genuinely exceptional.
Why does the Adriatic summer make a fleet programme more useful than ad-hoc detailing?
Coastal operations in high season combine heat, salt, passenger volume and tight turnarounds in a way that accelerates both visible wear and hidden degradation. Cabin carpets and leather take more traffic in July than in the rest of the year combined; exteriors collect salt haze overnight even when parked; brightwork that looked factory-fresh in May shows tarnish by June. Charter operators running the Adriatic circuit—Split, Dubrovnik, Tivat, Olbia—see the same aircraft return to Split every seventy-two hours, and each return is an opportunity to address small problems before they become large ones.
An ad-hoc model means you notice the cabin needs work, you call for a quote, we negotiate timing and price, and by then the aircraft is already departing for the next leg. A fleet programme inverts that: we are already scheduled to be on the aircraft Thursday afternoon, we see the galley spill and the scuffed threshold, and we address them as part of the monthly service. The difference is the operational tempo. When you are turning six legs a week through a resort field, reactive detailing always lags behind the problem. A twelve-month calendar keeps appearance ahead of the wear curve, which is what passengers and charter brokers notice.
How do we measure whether the programme is delivering what we need?
Every visit generates a service record: photographs of the exterior from eight angles, notes on any new damage or staining, consumables used, time on stand, and the name of the crew who performed the work. Those records go into a shared folder you can access at any time. If your chief pilot wants to know whether the belly decon happened before the aircraft repositioned to Farnborough, the record and photos are there. If a charter broker questions cabin condition, you have dated evidence of the last deep clean.
Once per quarter we sit down—in person at Split if your operations team is on-site, or by video—and review the previous three months: which services happened on schedule, which were deferred or brought forward, any recurring issues (a seam that collects dust, a nacelle that stains faster than the others), and whether the calendar still matches your actual flying pattern. That review is also the moment to adjust the budget if you have added a tail to the fleet or if your summer season is now running into November. The programme is a working document, not a static contract. If your operation changes, the detailing plan changes with it.
Questions operators ask about Fleet Care Program at Split Kaštela
Can we join the fleet programme mid-season if we only operate Split in summer?
Yes; we prorate the first month and build a calendar for the remainder of your Adriatic season. Many charter operators run the Adriatic from May through September and winter their aircraft elsewhere. We can start a fleet programme in April or May, build the calendar around your summer rotation, and either pause the contract when you reposition in October or continue it at your winter base if we operate there. The first month is prorated to the start date.
What happens if our aircraft is AOG and we need urgent detailing before a charter?
Fleet programme members receive priority allocation; we pull crew resource from the general queue to meet your departure time. AOG cover is included in the monthly fee. If your aircraft goes tech and you need a cabin detail or exterior wash completed in a compressed window to meet a charter commitment, you call the programme contact number and we prioritise your aircraft. We cannot guarantee every request on zero notice—stand availability and crew rostering still apply—but you move to the front of the queue ahead of one-off clients.
Do you coordinate directly with the handling agent for stand access and GPU?
Yes; once your slot and parking are confirmed, we liaise with the handler to arrange apron access and ground power. Handling agents are present at Split Kaštela. After you have agreed your arrival and departure times with the airport Traffic Coordinator and confirmed parking, we coordinate with the handler for airside access, stand location and GPU if the service requires it. You do not need to manage that coordination separately; it is part of the programme workflow.
Can we add or remove an aircraft from the programme mid-term?
Yes; we adjust the monthly invoice from the following billing cycle and update the service calendar. Fleet size changes are common—aircraft sold, leases ending, new tails added to the charter certificate. If you add an aircraft, we onboard it into the programme, photograph the baseline condition, and add it to the calendar from the next month. If you remove one, we prorate the final month and close out the service history. There is no penalty for changes; the programme is designed to flex with your operation.
What if the airport's slot coordination delays our arrival and we miss the scheduled detailing window?
We reschedule the service to the next available window and update the calendar; no additional charge if the delay is outside your control. Split's schedules-facilitated procedures and stand availability mean delays happen, especially in peak summer. If a coordination issue or slot delay moves your arrival outside the planned detailing window, we shift the service to the next practical opportunity—often the following day or the return leg—and update the calendar. Because we hold capacity for your fleet, rescheduling is straightforward and does not incur extra fees.
Is the quarterly appearance review mandatory, or can we skip it if operations are running smoothly?
It is included but not mandatory; many operators find a ten-minute call every three months keeps the programme aligned with their schedule. The review is an opportunity to confirm the calendar still matches your flying pattern, discuss any recurring issues, and adjust scope if needed. If everything is running smoothly and you prefer not to meet, that is fine—we continue with the existing plan. Most operators use the review as a quick checkpoint, particularly before and after the summer season when rotations change.
Do you store our aircraft's service history for the full twelve months, and can we access it for audits?
Yes; every visit record and photograph is stored in a shared folder accessible to your operations team at any time. Service records, photographs and notes are uploaded after each visit and remain accessible for the duration of the programme and beyond. If you need documentation for an insurance claim, a pre-purchase inspection or an internal audit, the history is available. We also provide a summary report at the end of the twelve-month term showing all work completed, any deferred items and the aircraft's condition trend over the year.
Can the programme cover both our Split-based aircraft and others that visit occasionally?
Yes; we enrol the based aircraft on the fixed monthly fee and handle occasional visitors as priority ad-hoc requests. If you have one aircraft based at Split for the summer season and two others that visit every few weeks, we enrol the based tail in the full programme and treat the occasional visitors as priority requests—you receive faster scheduling and the same crew familiarity, billed per visit rather than a monthly fee. This hybrid approach works well for mixed fleets.
What happens at the end of the twelve months—does the programme renew automatically?
No; we discuss renewal sixty days before the term ends, adjust scope and budget if needed, and sign a new twelve-month agreement. Two months before the current term expires, we review the past year, discuss whether your operation or fleet has changed, and propose a renewed calendar and budget. If you want to continue, we sign a new twelve-month agreement; if not, we close out the service history and provide a final condition report. There is no automatic rollover, so you are never committed beyond the agreed term without explicit renewal.
Does the fixed monthly budget change if we fly fewer legs than expected during the winter months?
The fee remains fixed unless we formally adjust the calendar; if your winter flying drops significantly, we can pause or reduce the programme. The monthly fee is based on the agreed calendar, not the number of legs flown. If your operation is genuinely seasonal and the aircraft sits idle for three months, we can pause the programme during that period or reduce the scope and fee to reflect lower activity. The goal is a predictable budget that matches your actual use, so we build flexibility into the contract for operators with pronounced seasonal patterns.