Exterior Dry Wash at Florence Peretola (LIRQ)

Why dry wash instead of a traditional rinse at Florence?

Peretola has no dedicated wash pad for business aviation, and moving an aircraft to a remote hardstand purely for cleaning adds handling fees, towing time and coordination overhead that few turnarounds can absorb. Dry wash eliminates all of that: we work where the aircraft already sits—on your assigned stand, beside the GPU, with no need to reposition.

The chemistry is designed for aviation paint systems. Polymer emulsions encapsulate particulate and dissolve oil film on contact; microfibre bonnets lift the suspension without scratching, and the residue evaporates or is buffed away. Bug protein comes off leading edges, carbon bloom disappears from nacelle trailing edges, and hydraulic haze vanishes from belly panels. Because there is no runoff, there are no environmental-discharge questions and no wait for a wash slot that does not exist.

For fleets running eight or ten sectors a week through LIRQ, dry wash every two to four weeks keeps the airframe presentation consistent without blocking the schedule. For transient crews, it means you can request a clean during passenger turnaround and leave with the aircraft looking as though it just came out of the hangar.

What does a dry-wash turnaround look like on the ramp at Peretola?

Once you confirm the service window—typically through your handler or directly with us—we arrive airside with all materials, water tanks for final detailing and a small ladder set. If the aircraft is cold-soaked from descent, we wait for surface temperatures to stabilise; applying product to a frozen leading edge achieves nothing and risks streaking.

The sequence is top-down: upper fuselage and tail first, then wings and nacelles, finally the belly and gear bays. Bug residue on the radome and wing leading edges receives a pre-soak; exhaust carbon around thrust reversers gets a dedicated degreaser; hydraulic film on belly panels is emulsified and wiped in sections. Exterior windows are cleaned with anti-static compound, lights are polished, and any accessible brightwork receives a light touch-up.

We do not enter the cabin, we do not touch avionics cooling scoops or static ports, and we do not remove or reinstall any covers—that remains with your crew or the handler. If the aircraft is due to depart within the hour, we prioritise visible surfaces and note the remainder in the tech log for the next station. Duration ranges from three hours for a light midsize to eight for an ACJ319 with full belly degreasing.

What changes at Florence Peretola that affects exterior cleaning?

Peretola sits at 142 feet elevation with a single 1,560-metre runway—short enough that many ultra-long-range types operate near MTOW limits and displaced thresholds are in use on both ends. The airport is slot-coordinated, which means every departure window matters and any service that threatens to push a slot risks expensive replanning. Dry wash fits into that constraint because we need no special ground equipment, no towing and no separate area.

Four handling agents are present at the airport—Signature Aviation, Sky Services, AviaVIP and Toscana Aeroporti Handling—and all are accustomed to third-party appearance contractors working on the apron provided we hold our own airside pass and follow their safety brief. We coordinate stand access and timing through whichever handler has your aircraft; they notify us of any change to the departure slot, and we adjust or pause accordingly.

Peretola shares its operator with Pisa, so procedures and documentation tend to mirror each other. The airport lies five kilometres north-west of Florence city centre, which means that if a crew or passenger requests a last-minute exterior clean, we can be on the ramp inside forty minutes during daytime hours. There is no published curfew in the DATA, so night operations are possible subject to slot and handler approval, though lighting on some stands is marginal for detail work.

How does Tuscan climate affect the airframe between washes?

Florence sits in a river basin; summer heat and winter humidity both leave their marks. July and August temperatures push exterior surfaces above forty degrees Celsius on the ramp, baking bug protein into the leading-edge paint and turning exhaust soot into a tenacious film on nacelle trailing edges. If left for more than two weeks, that residue begins to etch the clear coat, and removal takes significantly longer.

Autumn and spring bring agricultural dust from the Arno valley, which bonds to any oily film on the fuselage and creates a brown haze that looks worse than it is but requires emulsification rather than a simple wipe. Winter fog and light rain deposit mineral particulate without rinsing it away, so the belly and lower fuselage accumulate a grey film that dry wash handles easily but that a damp cloth will only smear.

For aircraft based at LIRQ year-round, we recommend dry wash every three weeks in summer—when bug strike and heat are highest—and every four weeks in winter. Transient aircraft inbound from North Africa or the Middle East often arrive with a layer of fine sand on the upper surfaces; a dry wash on arrival prevents that dust from being dragged into the cabin during boarding.

What do handlers expect when we bring a third-party crew onto the ramp?

Every FBO and handler at Peretola requires that we hold a valid airside pass for the airport, carry third-party liability insurance with aviation-specific coverage and attend their safety brief if it is our first visit of the season. They expect us to arrive at the security gate with a work order referencing the aircraft registration, to remain within the marked stand area and to notify the ramp controller before moving any equipment near the aircraft.

We do not ask the handler to supply power, water or ladders; we bring our own. We do not request access to the cabin unless explicitly arranged in advance, and we do not open any panel, hatch or door. If the aircraft is on a rapid turnaround and the handler is conducting a simultaneous fuel uplift or catering load, we coordinate our position to stay clear of the service vehicles and work the far side of the fuselage first.

Handlers appreciate that dry wash generates no wastewater and no need for ramp drainage, which simplifies their environmental compliance. They also appreciate that we can pause mid-job if a departure slot moves forward, secure our materials and step off the ramp in under five minutes. That flexibility makes third-party detailing far easier to accommodate than a traditional wash that, once started, must run to completion.

When does recurring dry wash make sense at Florence, and when is it a one-off?

If your aircraft overnights at LIRQ more than twice a month—typical for a Tuscan-based owner or a charter certificate with strong regional demand—recurring dry wash every three to four weeks keeps the exterior ahead of the dirt curve. We schedule around your usual arrival pattern, the handler pre-clears us for the stand and the work becomes part of the overnight flow. You see the cost in advance, the crew knows the aircraft will be clean for morning departure and there is no last-minute scramble.

One-off requests come from three places: transient crews on a European tour who want the aircraft clean before the owner boards in Florence; pre-purchase inspections where the buyer expects the airframe to be presented properly; and post-maintenance return-to-service, when an aircraft has been in the hangar at Peretola for avionics work or an AOG repair and needs exterior attention before resuming charter duty.

Both models work. Recurring programmes receive priority scheduling and a modest discount; one-off jobs are quoted individually and depend on stand availability and our workload that day. Either way, the process is the same: you tell us the registration and the arrival time, we coordinate with the handler and we deliver a clean aircraft without disrupting your slot or your passengers.