Cabin Disinfection at Lampedusa (LICD)

What changes at Lampedusa for cabin disinfection work?

Lampedusa sits at 70 feet elevation, half a kilometre from the town centre, with a single 1795-metre runway (08/26). The airport is fully coordinated—Level 3 under Assoclearance—so every arrival requires an allocated slot, even outside the peak season. That coordination shapes the window you have for any ground service: if your next leg depends on a slot four hours out, we plan the disinfection to finish with margin for crew rest and pre-flight.

Traffic is intensely seasonal. July and August bring congestion on the apron as scheduled and charter flights stack up; the operator itself flags short turnarounds and high air activity during summer. In winter the field goes quiet. For disinfection work, summer means coordinating stand access with AST and often working while other aircraft taxi past; winter offers calmer conditions but the same slot discipline. AST Aeroservizi runs both the apron and passenger services, so there is no separate FBO—all ground requests, including our airside escort, go through the operator's office at Contrada Cala Francese.

How does cabin disinfection fit into a Lampedusa turnaround?

The treatment itself takes one to two hours, depending on cabin size and configuration. We start as soon as the aircraft is on stand and the door is open, working section by section: seats, tables, armrests, latches, switches, galley surfaces, lavatory handles, door hardware, air vents and gaspers. Every high-touch point is wiped with aviation-approved disinfectant, and we finish with odour and smoke neutralisation if required.

In summer, when slots are tight and the apron is busy, the usual pattern is to begin disinfection immediately after passenger disembarkation, while refuelling and any exterior work happen in parallel. Winter turnarounds are less pressured, but the slot requirement remains—you still need to sequence ground services to meet your next departure time. If you are overnighting, we can schedule the work after engines-off and deliver the aircraft clean for the morning departure. Either way, we hand back a certificate of treatment and a photo report before you close the door.

What does AST Aeroservizi expect from a third-party cleaning crew?

Because AST operates the entire airport—apron, handling, passenger services—they control airside access and expect third-party contractors to follow their procedures without deviation. We hold our own airside pass and coordinate stand access, timing and any GPU or external power requirements through AST's duty desk before every job. They want to know our arrival time, the stand number, the estimated duration and when we will clear the apron.

During summer peaks, AST juggles dozens of movements in a short window, so they appreciate advance notice—ideally 24 hours—and punctuality. If your aircraft is delayed inbound, we notify the operator immediately so they can adjust stand assignments if needed. In winter the tempo is slower, but the same communication protocol applies. AST also requires that all disinfectants and cleaning agents meet aviation standards and that we carry liability cover; we provide both as a matter of course, along with copies of product data sheets if requested.

Is cabin disinfection at Lampedusa recurring or one-off?

Most requests are one-off: a charter operator brings a group to the island, disembarks them, and wants the cabin sanitised before the return leg or the next charter. Medical flights—rare but not unknown—always ask for disinfection after patient transport. Occasionally a fractional or management company running a Mediterranean circuit will schedule disinfection at Lampedusa as part of a multi-leg itinerary, especially if the aircraft has been cold-soaked overnight or flown several short hops without a deep clean.

Recurring work is less common simply because few operators base aircraft here year-round. When it does happen, it is usually a summer charter programme with the same airframe rotating through Lampedusa every few days; in those cases we agree a standing protocol—disinfection after every cycle, or every third cycle, depending on passenger load and cabin use—and AST becomes familiar with the schedule, which smooths stand access and timing.

What documentation do you receive after cabin disinfection?

Every job concludes with a certificate of treatment, printed on site and signed by the technician. The certificate lists the aircraft registration, the date, the disinfectant products used (including batch numbers), the areas treated and the start and finish times. It is written for your tech log and meets the requirements of most European and North American health authorities if you need to demonstrate sanitisation to a passenger or a charter broker.

Alongside the certificate, we deliver a photo report: typically a dozen images showing the cabin before we start, close-ups of high-touch surfaces during treatment, and the finished interior. The report is emailed to the address you provide—usually the chief pilot or dispatcher—and can be forwarded to passengers or included in a trip file. If you need additional documentation—a material safety data sheet for the disinfectant, proof of insurance, or a letter for a specific regulator—we can provide it with a few hours' notice.

Can you disinfect the cabin if the aircraft is only on the ground for three hours?

Three hours is workable for most light and super-midsize cabins, provided we start as soon as you are on stand. The disinfection itself takes one to two hours; the rest of the window covers our arrival, your crew's post-flight walk-around, any parallel refuelling or lavatory service, and our final inspection and handover. We coordinate the sequence with AST in advance so that GPU, if needed, is in place when we arrive and refuelling does not block cabin access.

For an ultra-long-range or large-cabin aircraft, three hours becomes tight—especially in summer when the apron is crowded and stand access may be delayed by inbound traffic. In those cases we either recommend a longer turnaround or prioritise the highest-touch areas (seats, galley, lavatories) and defer full air-vent treatment to the next stop. The decision is yours; we lay out the options and the timing as soon as you request the service, so there are no surprises on the day.