Complete Detail at EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg (LFSB)

What changes at EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg for a multi-day detail?

EuroAirport sits at 885 feet on the French-Swiss border, with a main runway (15/33) of 3900 metres and a secondary crosswind strip (07/25) of 1715 metres. The airport is binational—French and Swiss sectors under separate customs regimes—and Air Service Basel operates its FBO and hangar in the Swiss sector at CH-4030 Basel-Airport, three and a half kilometres north-west of Basel city centre. Mulhouse lies twenty kilometres away, Freiburg forty-six. The airport is not slot-coordinated; COHOR lists it as Level 2, schedules facilitated, which in practice means you file and go.

For a Complete Detail, the hangar is essential. Winter in the Rhine valley brings freezing rain and road salt that drifts onto the apron; summer delivers high UV and industrial particulate from both the Swiss chemical corridor and the Alsace plain. Paint oxidises quickly here, and cabin surfaces collect a fine layer of dust even on a sealed ramp. The FBO's enclosed hangar lets us control temperature and humidity, run extraction for polish fumes, and keep the aircraft clean while we work each zone in sequence. The handler arranges GPU and any tech-log requests; we coordinate directly with your flight crew for cabin access and post-work inspection.

How long does Complete Detail take, and when should we schedule it?

Count on two to five days, depending on aircraft size, paint condition, and the level of soiling in the cabin. An eight-year-old super-midsize with light oxidation and a well-maintained interior will sit at the short end; an ultra-long-range jet returning from a Saharan charter season, with baked-on dust and heavily soiled carpets, will need the full five. We work the exterior first—wash, decontamination, polish, brightwork—then move inside for seats, panels, galleys, lavatories and flight deck, finishing with disinfection and the photographic report.

The best window is between owner trips or during scheduled maintenance, when the aircraft would be on stand anyway. Many operators fold this into an annual or phase inspection at Basel, using the same hangar time for both. If you are preparing for a pre-buy or a sale, allow a week of margin before the surveyor arrives; it gives us time to address any paint defects or cabin repairs that surface during the detail, and it means the aircraft photographs in perfect light.

What does the exterior process involve in a Complete Detail?

We begin with a two-bucket wash using pH-neutral soap and deionised water, working from the top down: fuselage crown, cheat line, belly, nacelles, winglets, control surfaces. Leading edges and the lower fuselage—where bug strike, exhaust staining and ramp grime concentrate—receive extra dwell time. After rinsing and drying with microfibre, we clay-bar the entire painted surface to lift embedded contaminants: industrial fallout, tree sap, mineral deposits, overspray. You feel the difference immediately; the paint goes from rough to glass-smooth.

Next comes the single-stage polish, applied by machine in overlapping passes to restore gloss and remove light oxidation and swirl marks. We finish with a synthetic sealant that leaves a hydrophobic layer, so water beads off and the next wash is easier. Brightwork—exhaust surrounds, door handles, hinge pins, any polished aluminium—is treated separately with metal polish and sealed. Gear bays and the underside of the wings are cleaned but not polished unless you request it; most operators save that for a heavy maintenance visit.

What happens inside the cabin during a Complete Detail?

Every surface is cleaned to OEM specification. Leather seats are vacuumed, cleaned with pH-balanced leather soap, conditioned and protected; we treat stitching and piping separately to avoid discolouration. Carpets and soft furnishings are hot-water extracted, then dried with forced air to prevent mould in the underlay. Wood veneers are dusted, cleaned with a barely damp microfibre cloth and treated with a non-silicone conditioner that does not leave a film. Metal and plastic trim, sidewalls, overhead bins, window surrounds and seat mechanisms are wiped down with the appropriate cleaner for each material.

Galley and lavatory receive the deepest attention: we scrub sinks, taps, counter edges, bin lids and mirror frames, then disinfect all touch surfaces with an aviation-approved quaternary ammonium compound. The flight deck is treated as a no-touch avionics zone—we clean only what crew can reach without leaning over the glareshield, and we never spray liquid near the panel. Finally, we fog the entire cabin and cockpit with a hospital-grade disinfectant, effective against bacteria, viruses and fungi, and leave the photographic report—before and after shots of every zone—on the galley counter or in the tech log folder.

How does the handler at Air Service Basel work with a third-party detailing crew?

Air Service Basel expects advance notice—usually seventy-two hours—and a clear scope of work. We provide that in writing as soon as you confirm the dates: aircraft type, registration, arrival and departure slots, services required, number of technicians, equipment list (including any 230-volt or 400 Hz power draw), and whether we need tow or pushback. The FBO issues our crew airside passes, escorts us to the stand or hangar, and connects GPU and preconditioned air if the aircraft is cold-soaked or if we are working overnight.

They also manage any parallel maintenance or fuelling, which matters when you have multiple contractors on the apron at once. If your maintenance provider needs access to a belly panel while we are polishing the nacelle, the handler sequences the work so no one is waiting. At the end, they walk the aircraft with your crew, sign off on any FBO charges, and file the handling report. It is a well-rehearsed process; Air Service Basel handles a steady flow of business jets, and they know how third-party appearance work fits into a turnaround or a longer hangar visit.

When should an operator choose Complete Detail over a simpler wash or interior-only service?

Choose Complete Detail when the aircraft must present at its absolute best: before a sale, after a lease return, at delivery to a new owner, or before a major charter contract where cabin appearance is part of the client's decision. It is also the right call once or twice a year for any aircraft that flies frequently in harsh environments—desert dust, coastal salt, high-altitude UV, European winter de-icing—and that has not had a proper polish and interior restoration in the past twelve months. If the paint feels rough to the touch, if the cabin smells stale, or if you see swirl marks and oxidation in direct sunlight, the aircraft is due.

For routine operations—quick turns between legs, light soiling, no sale or survey on the horizon—an Exterior Dry Wash or Full Interior Detail on its own will be more efficient and less expensive. But when the goal is to reset the aircraft to near-delivery condition, Complete Detail is the only service that addresses every surface, inside and out, in one visit. The photographic report gives you a permanent record of the work, which is invaluable for resale documentation or for tracking the condition of the paint and cabin materials over time.