Exterior Dry Wash at Geneva (LSGG)

Why choose a dry wash at Geneva instead of waiting for a full wet detail?

Geneva sits at the centre of a dense European schedule: morning positioning from the Alps, midday transatlantic departures, evening returns from London or Paris. Paint collects hydraulic mist on the belly, bug protein on the nose and leading edges, and exhaust carbon around the APU. A full wet wash requires a bay, a three-hour weather window and often a night stop; a dry wash happens on stand during passenger turnaround or crew rest, with no water hookup and no environmental-discharge paperwork.

We bring aviation-approved waterless emulsion, lint-free microfibre and degreaser to the aircraft. One technician works the fuselage and glass, another takes the belly and gear bays, a third handles wings and nacelles. Residue lifts without abrasion, and the mild polymers leave a hydrophobic film that repels the next layer of grime. The result is an aircraft that photographs well and flies clean until the next scheduled wet wash, without losing a rotation or a slot.

What changes at Geneva that affects ramp cleaning?

Geneva Airport sits at 1,411 feet elevation, four kilometres north-west of the city centre, with a single runway—04/22, 3,900 metres—handling a mix of scheduled airline, charter and year-round business aviation. Take-offs are permitted from 06:00 to midnight local, but departures after 22:00 have been restricted and penalised since January 2025; in practice the airport grants only three late intercontinental slots per night. Business aviation FBOs staff their aprons from 06:00 to 22:00, with call-out available outside those hours if arranged in advance. That sixteen-hour operating window compresses evening turnarounds: if your departure slot is 21:30, any detailing work must start by 18:00 to leave margin for fuelling, catering and pre-flight.

All business aviation movements require a mandatory PPR requested through one of the three handling agents present at the airport—Signature Aviation at Terminal C3, Jet Aviation in its own two-storey terminal, and Dassault Aviation Business Services also at Terminal C3, all on the south apron along Chemin des Papillons. Slot coordination runs through the handlers, not directly with the operator, so we coordinate dry-wash timing through your FBO contact and your slot window. Airside access for contractors flows through FBO security; customs, immigration and twenty-four-hour surveillance are all on site at the business aviation terminal, so our team clears airside each morning and works under FBO escort when required.

Geneva's climate brings two seasonal loads: winter road-salt spray tracked onto the apron by ground vehicles, and spring/summer insect protein from low-altitude Jura crossings and evening lake thermals. Both bond to paint in humidity, and both lift cleanly with a dry wash before they bake on. Elevation is modest, but the surrounding Alps mean rapid weather changes; a morning departure can return the same evening with leading-edge bug strike and a film of high-altitude moisture that dries to a haze. A quick ramp dry wash between legs keeps the paint clean and the cabin-door threshold free of hydraulic transfer.

How does airside access and PPR work for a dry wash on the south apron?

Every business aviation arrival at Geneva needs PPR arranged through your handling agent—Signature, Jet Aviation or Dassault. When you request the dry wash, we notify the FBO in advance with our team size, estimated start time and aircraft registration. The FBO adds our names to the airside-access list and arranges the escort if your stand is inside a restricted zone. On the morning of the service, our crew clears security at the business aviation terminal, meets the handler's ramp coordinator, and moves to your stand with equipment in a small van or trolley.

If the aircraft is cold-soaked from an overnight ferry or an early positioning leg, we wait for the wing tanks to warm above the dew point before starting the nacelles and upper fuselage; working over condensation traps dirt instead of lifting it. The FBO coordinator logs our arrival and departure in the movement record, and we leave a copy of the photo report with the handler for your tech log if requested. Because all three FBOs share the same apron and security perimeter, we can move between terminals on a single airside pass, which helps when a fleet has two aircraft on different stands.

What does the belly and gear degreasing include in a dry wash?

Belly cleaning is where a dry wash earns its keep. Hydraulic mist from brake fans, APU oil vapour, and tyre rubber all settle on the lower fuselage and inside the gear bays; left alone they attract dust and form a black film that eventually creeps onto the cheat line and the cabin door sill. We use a citrus-based aviation degreaser on the belly panels, wheel wells and main-gear struts, working in small sections with a stiff brush to lift the film without scratching the paint or disturbing placards.

Nose gear gets the same treatment: we degrease the strut, scissor links and torque arms, then wipe down the tyre sidewalls and the back of the nose cone. Main-gear doors and the inside edges of the nacelle are cleaned by hand; we avoid static ports, AOA vanes and any no-touch avionics fairings. The degreaser evaporates in five minutes, leaving no residue and no need for a rinse. When the belly is clean, the entire aircraft looks sharper, and ground crew can inspect gear components without wiping away a layer of oil first.

How long does an exterior dry wash take, and can it fit between legs at Geneva?

A super-midsize cabin—Challenger 350, Praetor 600—takes three to four hours with a two-person team. A large-cabin type—Gulfstream G650, Global 7500—runs six to eight hours with three technicians. We start with the fuselage and windows, move to wings and nacelles, then finish with the belly and gear. If the aircraft is lightly soiled and the weather is dry, we can shave an hour off the upper end; if the belly is oil-stained or the leading edges are thick with bug residue, we add time for a second degreaser pass.

Most Geneva turnarounds allow a four-to-six-hour ground window between an inbound morning leg and an evening departure. If you land at 09:00 and depart at 18:00, we can start the dry wash at 10:00—after the aircraft is chocked, refuelled and connected to GPU—and finish by 15:00, leaving two hours for catering, passenger boarding and pre-flight. For tighter slots we prioritise the fuselage, nacelles and visible surfaces, then tackle the belly if time permits. The FBO coordinator tracks our progress and confirms completion before your crew returns to the aircraft.

What documentation and photo reporting do you provide after a dry wash?

Every dry wash closes with a digital photo report: time-stamped images of the nose, both profiles, tail, belly, gear bays and any areas of note—paint chips on a winglet, a hydraulic weep on a brake line, a cracked lens on a position light. The report goes to the chief pilot or flight-department manager by email within two hours of completion, and we leave a printed copy with the FBO if you want it attached to the tech log. Photos are stored for twelve months in case you need them for insurance or pre-purchase records.

If we find anything that needs attention—a fluid leak, a loose panel fastener, a scratch deeper than clear coat—we note it in the report and inform the handling agent immediately so the crew can log it before departure. We do not perform repairs, but we document what we see. The report also includes the products used, the team size, start and finish times, and the next recommended service interval. For fleet operators running multiple aircraft through Geneva, we can consolidate reports into a monthly summary with trends: average soil load, seasonal bug-strike patterns, recurring belly stains. That data helps you schedule wet washes and allocate detailing budget across the year.