Complete Detail at Zurich (LSZH)

What changes at Zurich?

Zurich sits at 1,417 feet with three runways: 16/34 (3,700 metres), 14/32 (3,300 metres) and 10/28 (2,500 metres), nine kilometres north-east of central Zurich. The airport is slot-coordinated and operates 06:00–23:30 local; the half-hour from 23:00 is reserved for clearing delays, and movements between 23:30 and 06:00 require a special permit under one of the strictest night curfews in Europe, in force since 29 July 2010. Slot-allocation curfews are even tighter: arrivals 23:00–06:09 CET, departures 22:46–05:44 CET.

For detailing, the curfew is an advantage. Aircraft that arrive in the late evening are on the ground until dawn, which opens a practical window for overnight work. Complete Detail takes two to five days, so the usual pattern is arrival in the evening, immediate positioning into the hangar, and uninterrupted access through the small hours when the apron is quiet and the handlers' ground-support equipment is standing by rather than cycling between stands.

Handling agents present at the airport include Jet Aviation, which operates the General Aviation Center FBO from 06:00 to 22:00 daily. The GAC offers hangarage, parking and lists interior and exterior aircraft cleaning among its own services, so third-party crews coordinate entry, power, access and waste disposal through the handler's duty manager and provide our own consumables, equipment and liability cover. Zurich's elevation and Continental climate—cold winters, warm summers—mean that paint picks up road salt and de-icing residue in the cold months and insect strikes, pollen and industrial fallout in the warmer half of the year. Cabins in long-range jets often carry humidity from tropical sectors, and upholstery can harbour mildew if the aircraft has been standing. Decontamination and a single-stage polish restore gloss and strip contamination that a dry wash or rinseless process leaves behind.

What the handler expects from a third-party detailing crew?

Jet Aviation's GAC provides the stand, GPU, airside escort and waste-disposal points; we bring our own water if a rinseless interior process is planned, or arrange a potable supply if the cabin galley and lavatories are being flushed. The handler's duty manager wants four things before work starts: proof of liability insurance naming the airport operator, a method statement that lists every chemical and piece of equipment, confirmation that all crew hold valid airside passes or will be escorted throughout, and a contact number for the on-site supervisor.

Inside the hangar, the handler will ask where waste water is going—some single-stage polishes generate run-off that must be captured—and whether any masking tape, trestles or lighting rigs will touch the aircraft. We confirm that pitot covers and static-port bungs are in place before any liquid is applied, that the APU exhaust and gear bays will be addressed separately, and that the cabin team will follow a no-touch protocol around the flight deck's avionics cooling vents and any OEM-specified materials that require pH-neutral cleaners.

At the end of each shift, the handler expects the stand to be clean, all extension leads and trestles stowed, and a brief entry in the tech log if any panel, access door or static port was temporarily removed or covered. The photographic report we produce—before and after—goes to the chief pilot or flight-department manager and serves as a record that the aircraft left Zurich in documented condition.

Recurring work versus one-off Complete Detail at this base

Some operators schedule Complete Detail twice a year at Zurich: once in spring to remove winter de-icing residue and road salt, once in autumn to strip summer insect strikes and prepare the cabin for the ski season. Others call the service before a pre-buy inspection, when a surveyor will photograph every rivet and the seller wants the airframe to show its true condition rather than six months of grime. A third pattern is the one-off detail before delivery or re-delivery, often combined with a records review and a final tech-log entry that the aircraft has been cleaned to OEM guidance.

Recurring customers at LSZH usually keep a set of photographs and a specification sheet on file with the handler, so the second or third visit runs faster: the crew knows which cheat line needs extra attention, whether the belly typically carries hydraulic staining, and which cabin materials can tolerate a stronger dilution. One-off customers receive the same process but spend more time in the walk-around, because we have no history of how the paint or the brightwork has been maintained. Either way, the decontamination step is not negotiable—single-stage polish only works on a clean surface—and the disinfection pass through the cabin and flight deck is logged separately so that the next passengers board an aircraft that has been treated, not merely wiped down.

Documentation and the photographic report

Every Complete Detail at Zurich produces a photographic report: wide shots of each side, the belly, the nacelles and the tail; close-ups of the leading edges, winglets, brightwork and any area that showed staining or corrosion during decontamination; cabin shots of the galley, the seating zones, the lavatory and the flight deck from the door threshold. The before-and-after pairs go into a numbered PDF, and the operator receives both the PDF and the original files on a USB stick or via secure upload.

The report serves three purposes. First, it proves to a buyer or a surveyor that the aircraft was detailed to a known standard on a specific date. Second, it gives the chief pilot a baseline for the next inspection cycle: if a panel joint is weeping or a section of brightwork is pitting, the photographs capture the condition before it becomes an AOG write-up. Third, the report protects both the operator and the detailing crew by showing exactly what was—and was not—addressed. If a gear-bay actuator is stained, the photograph confirms that the staining was present before the detail and is a maintenance item, not a cleaning failure.

Inside the tech log we make a single endorsement: 'Aircraft exterior washed, decontaminated and polished; interior detailed and disinfected; photographic report issued,' followed by the date, the crew supervisor's name and licence number, and a reference to the report file. The handler countersigns the entry, and a copy goes to the duty manager so that the FBO's records match the aircraft's.

Climate, paint and cabin at Zurich

Zurich's Continental climate swings from sub-zero winters with regular snow and ice to summers that can reach thirty degrees. In the cold months, paint collects Type I and Type IV fluid residue, glycol streaks down the belly and the cheat line, and road salt blown from the apron clings to the nacelles and the gear doors. A dry wash will shift the glycol, but the salt and the fluid polymers need decontamination—usually a clay bar or a chemical decon spray—before the surface is clean enough to polish.

In the warmer months, insect strikes accumulate on the leading edges and the windscreen, pollen settles on horizontal surfaces, and industrial fallout from the surrounding region leaves a fine grey film that oxidises if it sits for weeks. The decontamination pass strips all of it, and the single-stage polish restores the hydrophobic layer that helps the next rain sheet off rather than bead and stain. Brightwork—windscreen surrounds, door handles, the nose cone if it is polished aluminium—tarnishes faster in winter because of the salt, so we polish it last and apply a sealant that buys another few months before the next detail.

Inside the cabin, long-range jets that have flown tropical sectors often carry trapped humidity, and upholstery in the aft divan or the seats near the galley can develop mildew if the aircraft has been standing with the packs off. We treat affected areas with a pH-neutral disinfectant, then follow the OEM's guidance for leather, Alcantara or fabric. Carpets and sidewalls are vacuumed, spot-cleaned and treated with an anti-microbial spray, and the flight deck receives the same process with extra care around the avionics vents and the instrument bezels. The result is a cabin that smells neutral and looks as though it has just come off the completion line.

How long Complete Detail takes and what happens during those days?

Complete Detail at Zurich takes two to five days, depending on the size of the aircraft, the condition of the paint and the complexity of the cabin. A super-midsize jet in average condition—flown regularly, washed every few months—will be finished in two full days. An ultra-long-range jet that has sat outside through a winter, or one with a complex cabin featuring multiple materials and a full galley, will need four or five days.

Day one is exterior: wash, decontamination, polish, brightwork. The aircraft is positioned into the hangar, the crew sets up trestles and lighting, and the wash begins with a pre-soak and a two-bucket method or a rinseless product if the handler prefers no run-off. Once the surface is clean, we clay or chemically decontaminate every panel, then apply the single-stage polish by hand or with a dual-action machine, working in sections and checking the finish under the hangar lights. Brightwork is polished separately, and the leading edges, nacelles and belly receive extra attention because they carry the heaviest contamination.

Day two and beyond is interior: vacuum, spot-clean, treat all surfaces, disinfect, photograph. The cabin team works from the flight deck aft, removing loose items, vacuuming carpets and seats, treating leather and Alcantara with OEM-approved cleaners, wiping down sidewalls and window surrounds, and scrubbing the galley and lavatory. The disinfection pass is the final step: an anti-microbial fog or spray that covers every touchpoint, followed by a wipe-down and a ventilation period. The photographic report is compiled on the last afternoon, and the aircraft is released to the handler with a clean tech-log entry and a full set of images on file.