Complete Detail at Cagliari Elmas (LIEE)

What is included in Complete Detail at Cagliari?

Complete Detail combines everything in our Exterior Dry Wash and Full Interior Detail, then adds paint decontamination, single-stage machine polish, brightwork restoration and cabin disinfection. We begin with a dry or rinseless wash of the fuselage, wings, nacelles and tail, removing operational soiling and exhaust residue without introducing water into avionics bays or static ports. The paint is then clayed to lift bonded contaminants—industrial fallout, tree sap, insect proteins—that washing alone cannot remove, followed by a single-stage polish to restore gloss and clarity.

Brightwork around the windscreen, cheat line, winglets and nacelle lips is polished by hand or with dedicated pads. Inside, we vacuum, clean and condition all OEM cabin materials—leather, Alcantara, veneer, carpet, sidewalls and headliner—then detail the galley, lavatory, cockpit and all stowage compartments. The final step is disinfection of high-touch surfaces and soft furnishings using hospital-grade, aviation-safe chemistry. You receive a photographic report showing the aircraft as it arrived and as it left, useful for pre-buy documentation, insurance records or marketing a sale.

How long does Complete Detail take at Cagliari Elmas?

Duration depends on aircraft size, paint condition and the scope of interior work. A super-midsize jet in reasonable condition typically requires two full days; an ultra-long-range aircraft with neglected paint, heavy galley use or complex cabin configuration may need four or five. We prefer to work in a hangar, where temperature, humidity and dust are controlled and the risk of ramp contamination—jet blast, ground-vehicle exhaust, bird strike—is eliminated. If hangar space is unavailable or cost prohibits it, ramp work is possible when the forecast shows no precipitation, moderate winds and temperatures that allow polish to cure properly.

The handler will need to allocate a stand for the entire period, which can be complicated at Cagliari during the summer peak when commercial movements are frequent and apron real estate is limited. Scheduling the detail between legs—arrival from northern Europe, departure to North Africa or the eastern Mediterranean—gives you a clean aircraft for the next charter block or owner trip without flying the aircraft elsewhere. Coordinate the dates with your handler and with us at least a week in advance; two weeks is better if you need guaranteed hangar access.

What changes at Cagliari Elmas for a multi-day detail?

Cagliari Elmas operates twenty-four hours without curfew, though general-aviation movements are lightest between midnight and six in the morning. The airport sits at eleven feet elevation, seven kilometres west of Cagliari city centre, with a single runway—14/32, two thousand eight hundred and four metres—serving both scheduled and business traffic. Three handling agents operate from the General Aviation Terminal: Sogaerdyn (part of the SOGAER group), Argos VPH Group (trading as AviaVIP) and Aeroservice Executive Handling. All movements require prior permission at least twenty-four hours in advance, submitted to SOGAER coordination with registration, parking duration, MTOW and ICAO type; the airport is slot-coordinated, so allow extra time if you are arriving or departing during the morning or evening commercial push.

For a detail lasting several days, the handler will arrange parking—preferably remote stand or hangar to minimise the risk of ground-service-equipment contact—and provide or arrange GPU if you want avionics and environmental systems running while we work. Elmas Aeroporto rail station is within three hundred metres of the terminal, useful if your crew are staying in the city between positioning legs. Sardinia's season runs May to September; outside that window the apron is quieter, hangar availability improves and handler rates often drop, making autumn and early spring ideal for a comprehensive detail before putting the aircraft into charter or before a pre-purchase inspection.

What does the handler expect when a third-party detailer is on the ramp?

Handlers at Cagliari are accustomed to third-party maintenance and appearance providers, but they expect clear communication and adherence to airside-safety rules. We arrive with our own airside passes or are escorted by handler personnel; if you arrange the detail directly, inform your handler in writing that Terso will be working on the aircraft, provide our company details and confirm the planned dates. The handler will usually ask for a list of personnel, vehicle registrations and insurance certificates; we supply all of that as a matter of course, but it helps if you tell them to expect the request.

During the work, the aircraft remains under the flight department's or operator's control. We do not move the aircraft, connect or disconnect GPU, or open panels that require tech-log entries unless a licensed engineer from your organisation or the handler is present. If we find damage—paint chips, leading-edge erosion, corrosion around fasteners—we photograph it and inform the captain or chief pilot immediately; the photo report documents everything, so there is no ambiguity about what was present before we started. At the end of the detail, the handler will expect the stand to be clean, all waste removed and any borrowed equipment returned. We take care of that, but it is worth confirming with the handler that they are satisfied before you release the aircraft for the next leg.

Why schedule Complete Detail between legs rather than at home base?

Many flight departments use Cagliari as a staging point for Mediterranean charters or owner trips: inbound from northern Europe, outbound to Sicily, Malta, Greece or North Africa. Scheduling the detail between legs means the aircraft emerges clean and polished exactly when it is about to be seen by passengers, charter brokers or prospective buyers, rather than sitting in a hangar at home base where it will accumulate dust and fingerprints before the next flight. The photographic report also becomes a dated record of the aircraft's condition at a known point in its operational history—useful for insurance claims, pre-buy negotiations or fleet audits.

Operationally, a multi-day detail at Cagliari eliminates the need for a positioning flight to a specialist facility and back. The crew can leave the aircraft with the handler, take the train into the city or catch a commercial flight home, then return when the work is complete. If the next leg is already scheduled—say, a charter pickup in Olbia or a positioning flight to Farnborough—the aircraft is ready to go with no delay. The cost of parking and handling for three or four days is usually less than the fuel and crew expenses of an extra round-trip to another airport, and the result is an aircraft that looks as though it just came out of the paint shop.

How do I arrange Complete Detail at Cagliari Elmas?

Contact us as soon as you know the aircraft will be on the ground at Cagliari for more than forty-eight hours. We will ask for the aircraft type, arrival and departure dates, current paint condition (photographs help), any known issues—heavy bellly soiling, galley stains, smoky cabin smell—and whether hangar space is available or must be arranged. We then coordinate directly with your handler to confirm stand allocation, GPU availability, waste-disposal procedures and airside access. If you have not yet chosen a handler, we can suggest which of the three at Cagliari is best suited to the detail based on current availability and facility access.

Once the schedule is locked, we send a written work plan listing every task, the expected duration and the delivery format for the photographic report. On the day, we arrive at the agreed time, meet the handler or your crew, inspect the aircraft and begin. Progress updates—usually at the end of each day—are sent by email or WhatsApp, with photos if you want them. The final report, typically a PDF with thirty to fifty images, is delivered within twenty-four hours of completion. Payment terms and invoicing are arranged in advance; we are VAT-registered in Italy and can invoice either the operating company or the handler, depending on your preference.