Fleet Care Program at Le Castellet (LFMQ)

What changes at Le Castellet?

Le Castellet sits at 1,391 feet on a plateau north of Bandol, a mid-size business-jet field with a single 1,545-metre runway (12/30) and no slot coordination. The airport is no longer a customs point of entry—extra-Schengen PPF was withdrawn in June 2024, so only intra-Schengen flights are accepted and Universal Weather lists customs as unavailable. Five aircraft hangars were built during the 2001 modernisation and are available for rental, which means indoor detailing slots exist and we can schedule cabin work or polishing out of the weather.

The Circuit Paul Ricard sits immediately adjacent to the field. Motorsport events—especially the Formula 1 Grand Prix, held here from 1971 to 1990 and again since 2018—bring intense peaks of business-aviation traffic. During race weekends ramp space is at a premium, turnaround windows tighten and any service must be planned weeks in advance. Outside those peaks the airport is quiet, handlers are relaxed about apron access and we can bring equipment airside without delay. Elevation and plateau winds mean paint dries faster in summer but dust from the circuit perimeter settles on gloss finishes; a rinseless wash every two weeks keeps the cheat line and nacelles presentable between deeper cleans.

How does a twelve-month fleet program work at Le Castellet?

You tell us which tail numbers are in the program, where they overnight and how often they fly. We draft a service calendar that layers quick exterior washes after every second or third leg, a full cabin detail once a month and a single-stage exterior polish at the start and end of the Mediterranean summer. The calendar lives in a shared document; your ops team updates departure slots, we adjust the wash schedule and confirm each visit forty-eight hours out. One crew is assigned to your fleet so they learn the aircraft quirks—which galley panels scratch easily, where the APU exhaust stains the belly, how your chief pilot wants the flight deck left.

Every visit generates a short photo report: wide shots of the exterior, close-ups of any new leading-edge chips or belly scuffs, a cabin overview. The images go into a shared folder organised by tail and date, so when an owner asks about the state of the interior you have an answer in thirty seconds. At the end of each quarter we sit down—in person at Le Castellet or on a video call—and walk through the service history: how many washes, any deferred work, upcoming brightwork or deep-cabin tasks, budget versus actual. If the fleet grows or an aircraft leaves, we adjust the contract and the monthly invoice in the next billing cycle.

What does the handler expect when a third-party detailing crew works airside?

Handling agents at Le Castellet require our crew to hold valid airside passes and to notify them before we cross the apron. We send the handler a short email the day before each visit: tail number, stand location, estimated start and finish times, equipment we are bringing (pressure washer, vacuum cart, step ladder). On arrival we check in at the handling office, confirm the aircraft is released for ground work and ask whether the crew has filed any deferred items in the tech log that would affect our access—an open cowling, a pitot cover still on, a GPU cart blocking the belly.

The handler expects us to keep hoses and power cables clear of taxiway edges, to set up cones if we are working near an active stand and to call on the radio before we move equipment across any painted line. If we need water we either fill from the handler's hydrant—if they allow third-party use—or bring our own tank truck. At the end of the visit we walk around the aircraft with the handler or the captain, confirm that all panels are closed, that no tools or rags are left on the stand and that the apron is clean. The handler signs off our departure, we update the service log and the aircraft is released for the next flight.

Why does climate matter for a fleet appearance program?

Le Castellet sits inland from the Côte d'Azur, so summer ultraviolet is intense and winter nights can drop below freezing on the plateau. Paint oxidises faster here than at a northern European base; if you leave a super-midsize outside for three months without a wash, the cheat line will dull and the leading edges will show a haze of exhaust residue and dust from the circuit. A monthly dry wash or rinseless clean keeps the hydrophobic layer active and slows the oxidation, but once a year—usually in early spring before the charter season—we schedule a single-stage polish to lift the haze and restore gloss.

Inside the cabin, Mediterranean heat means leather dries out faster and cockpit screens attract more dust. A monthly interior detail includes conditioning all leather surfaces, wiping down the instrument panel with a no-touch avionics cleaner and vacuuming the gear bays if the aircraft has been sitting on a dusty stand. If your fleet operates into North Africa or the Middle East, we add a post-flight decon wash to the calendar—belly, nacelles and gear doors—so sand and salt do not sit on the paint overnight. The program adapts to where the aircraft actually fly, not to a generic template.

How do you handle AOG or last-minute schedule changes?

Every fleet program includes priority AOG cover. If an aircraft goes tech at Le Castellet and you need a quick exterior wash before a replacement crew ferries it out, we move another job and get a team on the ramp within four hours during the working day, longer at night or weekends. The AOG call goes to the same mobile number you use for regular bookings; the dispatcher knows your fleet, checks the service history to see when the aircraft was last washed and confirms whether a dry wash or a rinseless clean will be enough.

Schedule changes are normal. If a departure moves forward by six hours and we have not started the cabin detail, we either compress the scope—vacuum and galley wipe instead of a full deep clean—or defer the visit to the next overnight. If the aircraft diverts to another field and misses a scheduled wash at Le Castellet, we mark it in the calendar and add the wash to the following visit. The monthly invoice does not change unless you ask us to add extra scope—a brightwork polish, a gear-bay scrub—in which case we quote the addition before we start and itemise it on the next statement.

What documentation does the program produce?

After every visit—whether it is a ten-minute dry wash or a six-hour cabin detail—we upload a short photo report to a shared folder: date, tail number, service performed, any deferred items or damage noted. The photos are time-stamped and geotagged so you can prove when and where the work was done. If an owner questions a scratch on the galley credenza, you open the folder, find the last interior detail and see whether the scratch was already documented or appeared after that visit.

At the end of each month you receive a single invoice per tail number, listing every service performed, the date and the stand. The invoice matches the fixed monthly budget unless you requested additional work. At the end of each quarter we compile a summary report: total washes, total cabin hours, any brightwork or polish work, upcoming tasks flagged by the crew—leading-edge tape replacement, a belly panel that needs resealing, a cabin carpet that is due for extraction. The quarterly review meeting walks through the report and adjusts the calendar for the next three months. All documentation is yours; we keep a copy for our records but the service history, the photos and the reports belong to your flight department.