Complete Detail at Bern-Belp (LSZB)

What does Complete Detail include at Bern?

The service combines everything in our Exterior Dry Wash and Full Interior Detail, then adds paint decontamination, single-stage machine polish, brightwork restoration and disinfection of every cabin and flight-deck surface. We begin with a pre-work photographic survey, then move the aircraft into the hangar for the duration.

Decontamination lifts industrial fallout, bug strike residue and exhaust staining that washing alone cannot remove. The single-stage polish follows, correcting light oxidation and swirl marks across the fuselage, nacelles, winglets and tail. Brightwork—leading edges, pitot tubes, exhaust surrounds—is polished by hand to remove corrosion bloom. Inside, we detail every cabin material to OEM specification, disinfect high-touch surfaces and galley equipment, clean the flight deck without touching avionics, and finish with a photographic report showing before-and-after conditions for the tech log.

The result is an aircraft that looks as it did at acceptance, which is why pre-buy surveyors, charter marketing teams and fleet managers ask for this service before any high-stakes event.

How long does the work take and where does it happen?

Duration is two to five days, depending on aircraft size, paint condition and the extent of brightwork corrosion. A super-midsize jet in good baseline condition typically needs two and a half days; an ultra-long-range aircraft with heavy leading-edge pitting and cabin wear will fill four. We work inside a hangar throughout, both to control temperature and humidity for polish curing and to keep the cabin environment stable during deep cleaning.

Flughafen Bern AG's Ground Services team arranges hangar access through the General Aviation Center. The airport is not slot-coordinated, so scheduling the turnaround is straightforward: you agree dates with us, we confirm hangar availability with the handler, and the aircraft arrives on the day. Customs and immigration are available during aerodrome operating hours, so international arrivals clear without repositioning. Once the work is complete and the photographic report is in the tech log, the aircraft departs from the same stand.

What changes at Bern-Belp for a multi-day detailing turnaround?

Bern sits at 1,675 feet elevation on a single 1,730-metre runway, which limits operations to business jets and regional aircraft—exactly the category we serve. The airport is six kilometres south-east of Bern city centre, in Belp, and all general-aviation handling goes through the airport's own Ground Services division at the General Aviation Center on Flugplatzstrasse. There are no competing FBOs; the handler is Flughafen Bern AG, and the contact number for ramp coordination is +41 31 960 21 31.

Because the airport operates its own GA terminal and handling, communication is direct. The handler expects third-party service crews to hold valid airside passes or to be escorted throughout; we arrange that in advance. Multi-day visits mean the aircraft remains on stand or in the hangar without daily repositioning, so ground-power and climate control are continuous. The elevation and the Alpine proximity mean that even in summer, night temperatures can drop enough to cold-soak an aircraft, which we account for when planning interior work and polish curing schedules.

Switzerland's weather brings both sharp sunlight—which accelerates oxidation on upper surfaces—and winter moisture that leaves calcium deposits on the belly and gear bays. A complete detail addresses both, and the enclosed hangar environment at Bern lets us work without interruption from wind or precipitation.

When should an operator schedule Complete Detail?

The service is recommended once or twice a year, and always before a pre-buy inspection, an aircraft sale or a charter-season launch. Paint decontamination and polishing reverse six to twelve months of environmental damage—exhaust carbon on the nacelles, insect protein on the leading edges, rail dust embedded in the fuselage. If those contaminants remain through another season, they begin to etch the clearcoat, and correction becomes a respray conversation instead of a polishing one.

Flight departments also book the service after a long tour or before an important charter series, when the cabin has seen heavy use and the exterior shows the accumulated effects of different ramps, different climates and inconsistent local washes. A complete detail resets the aircraft to a known standard, which matters both for passenger perception and for residual-value protection.

Because the work takes several days, operators usually combine it with scheduled maintenance or a avionics upgrade at a nearby shop, so the aircraft is down once for multiple purposes. Bern's lack of slot coordination and its straightforward handler make it easy to hold a five-day window without the scheduling friction you encounter at busier airports.

Why does Terso do this work in a hangar rather than on the ramp?

Paint decontamination and machine polishing require controlled conditions. Polishing compounds cure at specific temperatures; if the surface is too cold, the compound hardens before it can be worked, and if it is too hot, it dries into the paint and causes hazing. A hangar gives us stable temperature, no wind to carry dust onto wet polish, and no risk of rain mid-process.

Inside work benefits as well. Deep cleaning of cabin materials—leather, Alcantara, wool carpet, veneer—needs time for products to dwell and for surfaces to dry without recontamination. On the ramp, dust and apron grit blow in through an open door; in the hangar, we control the environment from the moment we step aboard until we lock up after the final inspection.

Brightwork polishing, especially on leading edges and pitot tubes, involves fine abrasives and metal polish that must not migrate onto painted surfaces or into static ports. The hangar lets us mask and work methodically without the pressure of a departure slot or a handler asking when the stand will be free.

What does the handler at Bern need from a detailing crew?

Flughafen Bern AG expects the same airside discipline it requires of line-service staff: valid passes or confirmed escort, foreign-object-damage awareness on the ramp, and clear communication about aircraft movement and ground-power needs. Because this is an airport-operated facility rather than a third-party FBO, procedures are straightforward and the same people handle everything from fuel to hangar access.

For a multi-day visit, the handler wants to know the work schedule—when we need the hangar door open, when GPU will be connected, when waste-water disposal is required—so they can coordinate with other movements on the apron. We provide that timeline when we confirm the booking, and we update it if the work runs ahead or encounters an unexpected condition, such as corrosion that needs a second polishing pass.

The handler also expects us to leave the stand or hangar in the same condition we found it: no polish residue on the floor, no waste left in the hangar, all equipment and materials removed before the aircraft is released. We treat every location as if we will return the following month, because in many cases we do.