Exterior Dry Wash at Naples Capodichino (LIRN)

What changes at Naples Capodichino?

Naples sits at 294 feet elevation with a single 2,628-metre runway, slot-coordinated and operating 03:30 to 22:30 local; the airport closes completely overnight except for exceptional delays. Four handling agents are present—Sky Services, AviaVIP, Alisud and Fly Service—and Signature offers trip-support arrangements without a full FBO footprint. AviaVIP operates 04:00 to 21:00 UTC, which narrows the window for coordinating third-party work if your handler is not on-site outside those hours.

For dry wash, this means advance notice is essential. We coordinate directly with your handler to confirm stand access, GPU availability and airside escort timing. Slot pressure during daylight hours often pushes aircraft to remote stands, so we plan around apron movements and any handler constraints. If you're overnighting, we typically begin after the last inbound wave and finish before the morning curfew lifts, ensuring the aircraft is clean and the crew has uninterrupted rest.

How does a dry wash fit between legs at Naples?

Most operators request dry wash during a turnaround of four hours or longer, or overnight when the aircraft remains on stand until the next departure. We arrive with our own equipment, water supply and waste capture, so no wash bay or special apron infrastructure is required. The handler provides GPU if cabin access is needed and confirms that the stand will not be reassigned mid-service.

A super-midsize typically takes three to four hours; an ultra-long-range jet with a large fuselage and high tail may run six to eight hours if the belly is heavily soiled. We start with the upper surfaces—fuselage crown, wings, empennage—then move to the nacelles, belly and gear bays, finishing with windows, lights and a pass over the leading edges. Bug residue on the nose and wing roots comes off with a citrus-based pre-treatment; exhaust soot around the tail cone and APU outlet requires a separate degreaser. Hydraulic film on the belly and inside the gear bays is wiped down with lint-free cloths, and all waste goes into sealed containers for disposal landside.

If your slot or handler schedule shifts, we adapt. A delayed inbound means we either compress the clean to focus on the most visible areas—fuselage sides, nose, tail—or postpone until the next stop if the aircraft will be back within a week. For fleets operating a regular Naples rotation, we keep a service log so each visit builds on the last, preventing the accumulation that eventually demands a full wet wash and polish.

What do handlers expect when we work on the ramp?

Handlers at Naples want to know in advance that a third-party crew will be airside, how long we will occupy the stand, and that we carry our own liability cover. We send our airside-pass details, insurance certificate and a brief scope of work—'exterior dry wash, no engine run, no flight-control movement'—at least 48 hours before arrival. The handler then confirms stand assignment, GPU availability if required, and any apron restrictions, such as active taxiway proximity or noise limits during early-morning hours.

On the day, we check in at the handler's operations desk, collect our escort if the airport requires one, and walk out to the aircraft with the captain or engineer to agree on no-touch zones: pitot tubes, static ports, angle-of-attack vanes, and any avionics fairings the OEM specifies. We place warning flags over each pitot and cover the APU inlet if the unit is still warm. The handler appreciates that we do not request tow moves, do not open panels without the engineer present, and leave the stand cleaner than we found it—no puddles, no chemical residue, no forgotten buckets.

How is the work documented and reported?

Every dry wash ends with a photo report: wide shots of each side, close-ups of the nose, tail, belly, gear bays, and any area that arrived with heavy soiling or required extra attention. We timestamp the images, note the stand and handler, and send the package by email within two hours of completion. If your operation requires a formal entry in the tech log, we provide a one-line statement—'Exterior dry wash completed per operator request, no defects observed, no panels opened'—that the captain or engineer can transcribe and sign.

For recurring customers, we keep a service history: dates, aircraft registration, products used, areas of concern. This record helps us track the interval between cleans and flag any new issues—paint oxidation beginning on the nose, a hydraulic weep inside the left main gear, exhaust staining spreading forward from the tail cone. If something needs more than a dry wash can deliver, we note it in the report and recommend a wet wash or single-stage polish at the next maintenance window.

Does a recurring schedule make sense at this airport?

If Naples is a regular fuel stop, crew-change point or client pick-up, a standing dry-wash schedule—every two to four weeks—keeps the exterior consistently clean without the cost or downtime of repeated wet washes. We set a default day and time, confirm each visit a week in advance, and adjust for schedule changes or weather. The handler knows to expect us, the crew knows the aircraft will be clean for the next leg, and the chief pilot has one fewer item to coordinate on each trip sheet.

Operators who fly Naples only occasionally still benefit from a single dry wash if the aircraft has been sitting for several days or arrived dirty from a North African or Middle Eastern leg. Bug strike and dust accumulation degrade the exterior quickly in warm weather, and a dry wash before a high-profile charter or owner trip takes less time and costs less than a full detail. We also coordinate with your home base or primary maintenance facility so that the Naples clean integrates with your annual or six-month detailing cycle, rather than duplicating effort.

What happens if the aircraft is cold-soaked or icy?

Dry wash requires a clean, dry surface; if the fuselage is cold-soaked from a high-altitude descent or covered in frost, we wait until the aircraft reaches ambient temperature and any moisture evaporates. In winter, this can add 30 to 60 minutes. If de-icing fluid—Type I or Type IV—has been applied, we do not dry-wash over it; the fluid's glycol base interferes with our waterless products and leaves streaks. Instead, we either postpone the clean until after the next flight, when the fluid has blown off, or perform a light rinse if the handler has wash-bay access and the operator approves the added cost.

Naples' coastal climate means frost is rare, but cold-soaked wings are common on arrivals from Northern Europe or high-altitude transits. We check the leading edges and upper wing surfaces by touch; if they are cold enough to condense moisture from the air, we ask the handler to keep GPU connected for cabin heating, which warms the wing tanks and accelerates the process. Once the surface is dry, we proceed as normal.