Cabin Disinfection at Zagreb Franjo Tuđman (LDZA)

How does airside coordination work at Zagreb Franjo Tuđman?

The General Aviation Terminal—signed 'Terminal Generalne Avijacije' on the western campus—is where your handler arranges stand allocation and airside escort. We coordinate directly with Havaš to confirm slot, GPU availability, and access timing. If you're doing a quick turnaround, we ask for at least ninety minutes on the ground; longer if the cabin has been cold-soaked overnight and condensation needs to settle before we begin.

Airside passes are issued through the handler. We arrive with our own kit—backpack sprayers, microfibre cloths, aviation-approved quaternary ammonium solutions, odour-neutralising compounds—so no equipment needs to cross the apron separately. If you're parked on a remote stand, the handler provides the escort vehicle. If you're at the terminal hardstand, we walk across under escort. Either way, the process is transparent: the handler knows we're coming, the captain or chief pilot receives a call fifteen minutes before we board, and the tech log is signed once the treatment is complete.

What changes at Zagreb Franjo Tuđman?

Zagreb sits at 353 feet, so density altitude is rarely a constraint, even in summer. The single runway—04/22, just over three thousand metres—handles everything from light jets to ACJ and BBJ without length concerns. The airport is ten kilometres south-east of Zagreb city centre, close enough that positioning a crew car or arranging a hotel pick-up during a longer disinfection stop is straightforward.

Havaš operates the General Aviation Terminal, and passenger and crew immigration is handled at a separate control point there, not in the main terminal. That separation means less foot traffic, quieter aprons, and faster release after landing. There's no published curfew, so late arrivals or early-morning departures don't force you into a compressed timeline. If you're overnighting and want the cabin treated before the next leg, we can schedule the work after the aircraft is put to bed and before the morning walk-around, leaving the interior fresh without eating into your daytime slot.

Why does cabin disinfection take one to two hours?

Surface area and material type drive the clock. A super-midsize cabin with eight seats, a galley, and a lavatory can be done in an hour if the interior is already tidy and the aircraft is warm. An ultra-long-range cabin with fourteen seats, two lavatories, a full galley, a divan, and multiple stowage compartments will push closer to two hours. We don't skip steps: every armrest, every latch, every gasper vent, every call button gets wiped with a fresh microfibre cloth dampened with disinfectant, then buffed dry.

Odour removal adds time if there's been smoking, heavy catering smells, or biological contamination. We fog the cabin with a neutralising agent, let it dwell for fifteen minutes, then ventilate. If the GPU is available and the handler permits us to run the APU or ground air, we pull fresh air through the cabin to clear residual vapour. Cold-soaked cabins in winter need a few extra minutes for surfaces to warm above the dew point before we apply any liquid; treating cold panels risks streaking and incomplete coverage. The certificate of treatment is printed on-site and handed to the captain or left in the tech log.

Is this a recurring service or a one-off call at Zagreb?

Both models work. If you're running a regular shuttle—say, twice-weekly positioning between Zagreb and a Western European hub—we can schedule disinfection as a standing item after every inbound leg, billed monthly. The handler knows the pattern, the airside pass is kept current, and the treatment happens without a new purchase order each time. If you're flying a one-off charter or a medical repatriation and need the cabin decontaminated before the return leg, we take the call, coordinate with Havaš, and invoice separately.

Fleet operators with multiple aircraft stopping through Zagreb on rotation often fold cabin disinfection into a broader detailing calendar: every third visit gets a full interior detail, every other visit gets disinfection only. That approach keeps the cabin consistently clean without over-servicing. Charter operators tend to request disinfection after high-utilisation legs—back-to-back charters with different passenger groups, long-haul flights where the lavatory has seen heavy use, or any flight where a passenger or crew member was unwell. We don't ask for a minimum commitment; if you need one treatment, we'll do one treatment.

What does the handler at Zagreb expect from a third-party detailing crew?

Havaš expects advance notice—ideally twenty-four hours, minimum four hours for an AOG or schedule-change scenario. They need our company name, the names and passport numbers of the technicians boarding the aircraft, and confirmation that we carry our own liability insurance. The handler will ask whether we need GPU, whether we'll run the APU, and how long we'll occupy the stand. If another aircraft is due on the same hardstand, they'll tell us, and we adjust timing or move the jet to a different spot if necessary.

We bring our own waste bags and take all used cloths, empty bottles, and packaging off the apron when we leave. We don't use the handler's water supply unless arranged in advance, and we don't leave equipment unattended on the ramp. If the captain wants to observe the treatment or if a company representative is on-site, the handler expects us to coordinate that access separately; they won't escort extra people without prior approval. The tech log entry is brief—date, service performed, technician name, certificate number—and we never write in the log without the captain's or first officer's explicit consent.

When should cabin disinfection be scheduled between legs at Zagreb?

The cleanest window is immediately after landing, before the next passenger boarding. If you're doing a turnaround with a two-hour ground stop, disinfection fits neatly between deplaning and the pre-departure walk-around. If you're overnighting, treating the cabin in the evening means it's fresh for an early departure without requiring our crew on the apron at dawn. For longer stops—say, a weekend layover—disinfection can happen mid-stay, after any maintenance work is complete and before the final pre-flight checks.

Avoid scheduling disinfection immediately before or during refuelling; we can't have technicians in the cabin while fuel is being pumped, and the handler won't permit it. If the aircraft needs a dry wash or a rinseless exterior clean on the same visit, we do the outside work first, then move inside once the airframe is dry and the ladders are clear. If you're combining disinfection with a deeper interior detail—say, leather conditioning or carpet extraction—we disinfect last, so the treatment sits on top of clean surfaces rather than being diluted or wiped away by subsequent work.