Aircraft Detailing at Zurich (LSZH)

What changes at Zurich?

Zurich sits at 1417 feet, nine kilometres from the city centre, and operates three runways—16/34 at 3700 metres, 14/32 at 3300 metres and 10/28 at 2500 metres—under one of the strictest night curfews in Europe: 23:30 to 06:00 local, in force since 29 July 2010, with no routine exceptions. The slot-allocation curfew closes arrivals at 23:00 and departures at 22:46, so any aircraft staying overnight is on stand from late evening through the small hours. That window is when we schedule complete details, ceramic application and deep interior work without disrupting your morning departure slot.

The General Aviation Center, operated by Jet Aviation, opens 06:00 to 22:00 daily and offers hangarage, parking and its own cleaning services; handling agents present at the airport coordinate airside access and GPU. Because LSZH is slot-coordinated, every movement is planned weeks ahead, and we fit our turnaround into your PPR and stand allocation. The Alpine climate means winter brings road salt, de-icing residue and cold-soaked leading edges; summer delivers insect strikes on every arrival from the south. Paint here works harder than at sea-level fields, and brightwork oxidises faster in the thin, dry air.

Which detailing services do operators use at Zurich?

Quick turns dominate the schedule: a cabin reset, galley wipe-down, lavatory service and waterless exterior between two legs, usually while passengers clear customs or the handler refuels. Full interior details are common for aircraft overnighting after a charter series or before an owner trip, and we move those into the hangar when the FBO has space. Exterior dry wash is the everyday choice on the ramp—no water runoff, no environmental permit, finished in under two hours for a super-midsize—but operators bringing an aircraft out of storage or preparing for sale will book a complete detail with paint decon, single-stage polish and brightwork by hand.

Ceramic coating requests come from flight departments basing at LSZH or from pre-delivery positioning stops; the process needs the aircraft clean, paint corrected and at least eight hours under cover for cure. Cabin disinfection saw a sharp rise in 2020 and remains part of every charter reset and owner handover. Fleet-care programmes suit any operator with two or more aircraft on the Zurich AOC: we schedule monthly interiors, quarterly polish and seasonal decon around your rotation, and every visit is logged in the same file so you can show continuity to the next buyer or auditor.

How does the overnight curfew shape the work?

The 23:30 hard stop means any aircraft arriving after 22:00 will sit until 06:00, and that twelve-hour span is the ideal block for work that cannot happen during a quick turn. We start a complete detail as soon as the handler releases the stand: exterior wash and decon first, then brightwork and paint polish under hangar light, cabin pulled apart and deep-cleaned through the night, and everything reassembled, inspected and photographed by 05:30 so the crew can preflight on time. Ceramic coating follows the same rhythm—cure happens while the airport sleeps—and we have GPU and climate control in place so the cabin stays at the temperature the coating manufacturer specifies.

For daytime arrivals the curfew is invisible, but it disciplines the schedule: if a quick turn overruns and you miss your departure slot, the next available window may be the following morning. We track every slot and PPR in the work order, confirm stand time with the handler and build contingency into the quote. Cold-soaked wings in winter add ten minutes to an exterior wash; we warm the leading edge by hand before applying product, and we never touch pitot covers or static ports until the aircraft has equalised. The result is that nothing we do will delay your departure or cost you a slot.

What does the photo report include?

Every job closes with a digital album: time-stamped images of the aircraft on arrival, work in progress—leading edges masked, belly panel decon, nacelle polish, cabin seats pulled—and the finished state from six angles, plus close-ups of any brightwork, cheat line or winglet we addressed. The report goes to the chief pilot or flight-department manager within two hours of sign-off, and a PDF summary with the tech-log entry follows by email. If you are selling the aircraft or preparing for audit, we annotate the album with the products used, surface temperatures recorded and cure times logged, so the next operator knows exactly what was done and when.

For fleet-care customers the photo library becomes a maintenance asset: twelve months of monthly interiors, quarterly exteriors and seasonal brightwork in one folder, each visit cross-referenced to the tech log and the airframe hours at the time. That continuity proves care to the buyer, supports residual value and gives you a visual record if a dispute ever arises over paint condition or cabin wear. We store the archive for three years and supply it on request at no charge.

How do recurring and one-off visits differ at this base?

A one-off visit—pre-sale detail, post-delivery correction, charter reset—starts with a walk-around photograph and a written scope agreed with the captain or dispatcher before we open a single panel. We quote fixed price, confirm the stand and handler, arrange airside escort and GPU, then deliver the work, the photos and the invoice in sequence. The aircraft leaves clean, the tech log is signed, and the file closes. One-off customers return when they need the same result again, but each visit is a new contract with no assumption of continuity.

Recurring work treats the aircraft as part of a based fleet: we hold your preferred products, your cabin-materials guide and your OEM brightwork limits on file, and we schedule the next visit before the current one finishes. Monthly quick turns happen on the same stand at the same time of day, so your handler knows the routine and the crew know where to find us. Quarterly interiors and seasonal exteriors are planned around your rotation, and if you AOG or divert we will move the calendar without a rebooking fee. The practical difference is that recurring customers spend less time explaining what they want and more time flying revenue legs, because we already know the aircraft and the standard.

What does Alpine climate do to business-jet appearance?

Zurich's elevation and proximity to the Alps mean temperature swings, low humidity in winter and intense ultraviolet in summer. Paint oxidises faster than at sea level, and any wax or sealant you applied six months ago is already breaking down. Leading edges pick up insect protein on every climb-out toward Italy, and that residue turns acidic within forty-eight hours if not removed. De-icing fluid—Type I and Type IV—leaves a glycol film on the belly and gear doors, and if the aircraft flies to a warm field immediately after departure the film bakes into the paint and requires clay decon to lift.

Inside the cabin, dry winter air cracks leather that is not conditioned monthly, and Alpine road salt tracked onto carpets by passengers will wick into the pile and discolour the backing. Veneer loses moisture and can check along the grain if the cabin is left cold-soaked for days without humidification. We treat every Zurich-based aircraft as high-cycle: exterior decon every ninety days, brightwork inspection every six months, leather conditioning every four weeks and a hydrophobic top-up before the first snow. That rhythm keeps the paint glossy, the metal bright and the cabin materials stable through a full Swiss season.