Fleet Care Program at Trapani Birgi (LICT)
Twelve-month appearance plans for fleets operating from Sicily's military-civil field
The Fleet Care Program at Trapani Birgi (LICT) provides charter operators and corporate flight departments with a full-year appearance schedule tailored to aircraft based on Sicily's west coast. Rather than booking each wash or cabin detail separately, the program builds a service calendar around your flight schedule—quick turns between legs, monthly interiors, seasonal exterior work and brightwork polishing—with fixed monthly invoicing per tail number, priority crew allocation, and 24/7 AOG cover. Every visit is documented with photos and service history; quarterly reviews keep the plan aligned with your operations.
13R/31L · 2695 m
AIP and airport data25 ft
15 km
Trapani city centreWhat does a fleet-care plan look like at a military-civil base?
Trapani Birgi is a military airport open to civil traffic, home to the Italian Air Force 37th Wing while civil operations are managed by Airgest. That dual-use status shapes how we structure fleet programs here: we coordinate with the military-controlled areas, track apron movements through Airgest's handling arrangements, and schedule work around both civil and military traffic flows. For a based aircraft, this means we map out the year knowing which parts of the field are accessible when, and which periods see heavier military activity.
The program itself is a twelve-month commitment. You nominate the tail numbers, we build a service calendar that includes quick turnarounds between revenue legs, monthly cabin cleans, seasonal exterior washes (including decon after winter operations or Saharan dust events), and at least one full single-stage polish per year. Brightwork—nacelles, leading edges, belly panels—gets attention on a schedule that matches your utilisation. One invoice per month covers all tails in the program; one contact coordinates every visit. If an aircraft goes AOG or you need an unscheduled clean before a charter, the program guarantees priority crew allocation.
How do you handle airside access and documentation at Trapani Birgi?
Because Birgi is a military installation, airside access follows stricter protocols than a purely civil airport. Our crew holds current airside passes valid for LICT, and we coordinate entry and movement with both the military authorities and Airgest. For each visit under the fleet program, we notify the handling agent in advance, confirm stand availability, and ensure the aircraft is accessible without conflicting with military operations or scheduled civil movements.
Every service—whether it's a fifteen-minute dry wash or a six-hour cabin detail—is logged with photos and entered into your tail's service history. You receive a digital report after each visit: exterior shots showing panel condition, close-ups of any new leading-edge chips or belly staining, cabin photos documenting material condition. Those reports travel with the aircraft in the tech log if required, and the accumulated history forms the basis of the quarterly appearance review we conduct with your operations team. That review adjusts the calendar if utilisation patterns shift or if seasonal factors—summer charter peaks, winter deicing—change the aircraft's appearance needs.
What changes at Trapani Birgi depending on season and traffic?
Trapani Birgi sits at 25 feet elevation, fifteen kilometres from both Trapani city centre and Marsala, reached via the A29 motorway from Palermo. The single runway—13R/31L, 2695 metres—handles both military jets and civil traffic without slot coordination, but the airport's traffic is strongly seasonal: Airgest publishes separate summer and winter schedules, and several routes operate only during the summer months. For a fleet program, that seasonality dictates when we schedule heavier work and when we keep turnarounds lean.
Summer brings charter peaks, tourist traffic, and longer daylight hours, so we typically slot quick exterior turns and cabin touch-ups around your revenue legs, saving deeper work for shoulder months. Winter sees fewer movements and cooler temperatures, which suits single-stage polishing and brightwork restoration—jobs that require stable conditions and time on stand. The military presence remains year-round, so we always coordinate apron access regardless of season. If your aircraft overnights at Birgi during winter, we can arrange cold-soak precautions and ensure pitot covers and static ports are managed correctly, even though deicing demand here is minimal given the coastal elevation.
Why choose a program over booking each service separately?
Recurring work at a base like Trapani Birgi benefits from continuity. Under a fleet-care plan, the same crew learns your aircraft—knows which cabin materials are OEM-approved, where the no-touch avionics panels are, how the cheat line and winglets weather over time. That familiarity speeds turnarounds and reduces the risk of mistakes. You also avoid the administrative friction of requesting quotes, issuing purchase orders, and reconciling invoices for every wash or wipe-down; one monthly invoice covers all scheduled and unscheduled visits for all tails in the program.
Operationally, the program guarantees priority. If an aircraft lands with an unexpected stain in the cabin or a belly covered in hydraulic fluid, you call one number and the crew mobilises, even outside normal hours. That AOG cover is written into the twelve-month contract. The fixed monthly budget per tail number also simplifies flight-department accounting: no surprise invoices, no seasonal spikes, just predictable cost spread across the year. For charter operators juggling multiple tails and fluctuating schedules, that predictability matters.
How do you time work between legs at a seasonal field?
Timing is everything when the aircraft is revenue-earning. We build the service calendar around your published schedule—or around the patterns you share if you operate ad-hoc charters—so that quick turns happen during planned ground time and deeper work slots into layovers or maintenance windows. At Trapani Birgi, where summer traffic is dense and winter quieter, we adjust the rhythm: summer might mean a rinseless wash and cabin vacuum between morning departure and afternoon return, while a January layover could accommodate a full exterior detail, gear-bay clean, and interior shampoo.
Each service has a standard duration. A dry wash takes fifteen to twenty minutes if the aircraft is lightly soiled; a full rinseless exterior with gear bays and belly might need two hours; a monthly cabin clean runs three to five hours depending on configuration and passenger count. We communicate those windows in advance, coordinate with your handling agent to ensure GPU availability, and confirm that the stand will remain free for the duration. If a leg runs late or a slot tightens, we adapt—either by splitting the work across two shorter visits or by prioritising the most visible areas (cabin, windscreen, cheat line) and deferring the rest to the next scheduled turn.
What happens at the end of the twelve months?
Ninety days before the program expires, we schedule a final review with your operations or flight-department team. That meeting covers the year's service history—total visits, work performed, any recurring issues flagged (leading-edge chips, nacelle staining, cabin wear patterns)—and discusses whether the calendar structure worked or needs adjustment. If utilisation changed mid-year, we propose a revised schedule for the renewal term. If a tail left the fleet or a new one joined, we update the roster and recalculate the monthly budget.
Most programs renew. The continuity benefits both sides: we maintain familiarity with your aircraft and crew preferences, you maintain predictable cost and priority access. If you choose not to renew, the service history and photo archive remain yours, and we revert to quoting individual jobs on request. There is no automatic rollover; renewal requires a signed commitment for the next twelve months, which locks in the monthly rate and guarantees crew availability for the term.
Questions operators ask about Fleet Care Program at Trapani Birgi
Does the Fleet Care Program cover deicing at Trapani Birgi?
Deicing is not included in the standard program, but we coordinate with handlers if Type I or IV fluid is needed. The monthly budget covers appearance work—washes, interiors, polishing, decon—but does not include deicing fluid or application, which is invoiced separately through the handling agent. At Trapani Birgi's coastal elevation, deicing demand is rare, but if conditions require it we coordinate fluid supply and holdover-time documentation with the handler and add the cost to that month's invoice as a line item.
Can I add or remove a tail mid-program?
Yes; we adjust the monthly invoice pro-rata from the date of addition or removal. If you acquire a new aircraft or sell one mid-term, notify us and we amend the roster. The monthly budget recalculates from the effective date—adding a tail increases the invoice, removing one reduces it—and the service calendar extends to cover the new registration. There is no penalty for changes, though we ask for at least two weeks' notice to update crew schedules and airside coordination.
What if the aircraft is away from Trapani Birgi for weeks at a time?
The program remains active; we reschedule missed visits when the aircraft returns or coordinate work at another European field if feasible. If your aircraft spends extended periods away—charter tour, maintenance visit, seasonal repositioning—the monthly fee continues because crew availability and priority AOG cover remain guaranteed. When the aircraft returns to Birgi, we catch up on any missed scheduled work during the next layover. If you need a wash or interior at the away station and we can reach it with our mobile team, we include that visit in the program at no extra charge, though travel costs may apply.
Does the program include consumables like cabin products and polishes?
Yes, all materials—wash solutions, polishes, cabin cleaners, microfibre cloths—are included in the monthly budget. You do not supply anything. We bring OEM-approved cabin cleaners matched to your aircraft's interior materials, pH-neutral exterior solutions, single-stage polish for paint, and separate compounds for brightwork. Consumable cost is built into the monthly rate, so there are no surprise charges for materials or equipment.
How do you handle military-controlled areas at Trapani Birgi?
We coordinate apron access and stand availability with both the military authorities and Airgest before each visit. Because Birgi is an active Air Force base, certain areas and times are restricted. Our crew holds valid airside passes, and we notify both the military liaison and the civil handling agent in advance of every scheduled service. If a stand becomes unavailable due to military operations, we reschedule or move to an alternate location on the civil apron, always confirming GPU and water access before we begin work.
What kind of photo documentation do we receive?
After every visit you receive dated exterior and cabin photos, plus close-ups of any new damage or staining. Each service generates a digital report: wide shots of the aircraft on stand, detail images of leading edges, nacelles, belly, and gear bays, cabin overviews showing seat condition and galley cleanliness. If we spot new chips, scratches, or fluid leaks, we photograph them and flag them in the report. All images are archived in your tail's service history, accessible online, and available for tech-log attachment or insurance documentation if needed.
Can the program cover multiple aircraft types in the same fleet?
Yes, the calendar and monthly budget adjust to each tail's size, configuration, and utilisation pattern. We manage mixed fleets—super-midsize, large-cabin, ultra-long-range—within a single program. Each tail gets its own service schedule based on flight hours, passenger load, and seasonal needs. A Challenger might need monthly interiors and quarterly exteriors; a Global in heavy charter rotation might require fortnightly cabin touch-ups and more frequent dry washes. The monthly invoice itemises each tail separately, so you see exactly what each aircraft costs.
What happens if an AOG request comes in during a busy summer day?
Program aircraft receive priority crew allocation; we respond within the agreed window, even if other work is queued. The fleet-care contract guarantees that your aircraft jump the queue. If you call with an AOG clean—hydraulic leak before a charter leg, cabin spill between flights—we mobilise the crew immediately, even if we have other jobs scheduled that day. During Trapani Birgi's summer peak, when apron traffic is dense, we may need thirty to sixty minutes to reach the stand and confirm GPU, but you will not wait behind non-program requests.
Is there a minimum number of tails required to start a program?
We recommend at least two aircraft to justify the fixed monthly structure, but single-tail programs are possible for high-utilisation jets. Most fleet programs cover two to five tails. A single-aircraft program can work if the jet flies frequently from Trapani Birgi and benefits from the priority AOG cover and predictable budgeting, but the monthly cost per tail will be higher than in a multi-tail arrangement because the administrative and coordination overhead is spread across fewer visits.
Do you coordinate with our handling agent or do we need to arrange that separately?
We coordinate directly with the handling agent for stand access, GPU, and apron movement; you do not need to manage that liaison. Once the program is active, we handle all coordination. Before each scheduled visit we contact your handler (or Airgest if you self-handle), confirm the stand, arrange GPU if the aircraft will be cold, and notify them of our arrival time and expected duration. You receive a copy of the coordination email so your ops team stays informed, but you do not need to make calls or send requests yourself.