Complete Detail at Lyon-Saint-Exupéry (LFLL)

Why schedule Complete Detail at Lyon rather than at your home base?

Lyon sits between northern Europe and the Mediterranean, making it a natural mid-route turnaround point. If your aircraft is repositioning from Geneva to the south of France, or returning from a charter series in Italy, the two-to-five-day window fits neatly into a gap in the flying schedule without blocking your home hangar. You avoid ferry costs and the aircraft emerges ready for its next leg or the start of the season.

The photographic report is especially valuable when the aircraft is about to change hands. Pre-buy inspectors and prospective buyers expect documentation, and a timestamped before-and-after set taken at a known FBO provides that record. For fleet operators, scheduling the detail at Lyon during a planned tech stop consolidates downtime rather than adding a separate positioning flight later.

What changes at Lyon-Saint-Exupéry for a multi-day detail?

The airport operates around the clock, though schedule-facilitation applies to IFR traffic between 06:00 and 22:59 local. Field elevation is 821 feet, and two parallel runways—4,000 metres and 2,670 metres—handle everything from light jets to ACJ and BBJ without performance constraints. Lyon-Saint-Exupéry lies roughly twenty kilometres east of the city centre, which keeps positioning time short if your principal needs ground transport during the detail.

Handling agents present at the airport can arrange hangar space for the duration; most multi-day details take place indoors to control dust, temperature and humidity. Lyon has a second airport, Lyon-Bron, dedicated entirely to business aviation and marketed for long-term storage and hangaring, but Saint-Exupéry remains the hub for transient operations and quick-turn work. Expect continental weather: cold-soaked wings in winter, high summer apron temperatures that accelerate paint oxidation, and the usual European mix of rain, de-icing fluid residue and industrial fallout that makes decontamination worthwhile twice a year.

What does the decontamination and polish stage remove that a dry wash cannot?

A dry wash lifts loose dirt and light film. Decontamination goes after bonded contaminants—industrial fallout, tree sap, insect protein, de-icing fluid residue, and the fine black specks that embed in paint after months on European aprons. These particles sit below the surface gloss and create a rough texture you feel with a gloved hand. If left in place, they act as nucleation sites for further contamination and dull the paint faster.

The decontamination step uses a clay bar or chemical process to pull the particles out without abrading the clearcoat. Single-stage machine polish follows, cutting micro-scratches and restoring gloss. The result is a smooth, hydrophobic surface that sheds water and stays cleaner between washes. On a white or light-coloured fuselage, the difference is visible from the apron; on darker paint, the depth of reflection changes noticeably. Brightwork—nacelle rings, cheat line, winglets—receives dedicated metal polish to match the finish of the paint.

How does the interior detail differ from a routine cabin clean?

Routine cleans address visible dirt and light vacuuming between flights. Full interior detail means every surface is cleaned to OEM specification: leather is conditioned, carpet is extracted, sidewalls and overhead panels are wiped with no-touch solutions safe for avionics, galley surfaces are degreased, and the flight deck receives the same attention as the cabin. Seat tracks, gear-bay access panels and the belly of interior monuments—all the places that accumulate dust and spills over months—are included.

Disinfection follows the detail. High-touch surfaces—armrests, seat controls, lavatory fixtures, galley handles—are treated with aviation-grade disinfectant that leaves no residue on leather or veneer. The photographic report captures the condition before work begins and again after disinfection, so you have a dated record for the tech log or for a prospective buyer's due diligence. For charter operators, this level of documentation supports health and safety audits.

What is the practical turnaround time for Complete Detail at Lyon?

Two days is the minimum for a super-midsize cabin with paint in reasonable condition; five days is typical for an ultra-long-range interior that has seen a year of charter use or a fuselage that needs extra decontamination passes. The schedule depends on the size of the aircraft, the condition of the paint, and whether any interior materials require special treatment—high-gloss veneer or suede panels, for example, add time.

Hangar availability and handler coordination also affect the window. If you have a slot at Lyon and a gap in the flying schedule, we work with the handling agent to confirm hangar access and power for the duration. The aircraft remains on GPU throughout; no cold-soaking, no exposure to apron weather. For operators with back-to-back charters, the detail can be split across two shorter visits if the schedule will not permit a continuous five-day block, though this adds positioning time and is less efficient.

When should an operator schedule Complete Detail rather than separate washes?

Once or twice a year is the usual cadence, timed around the start of the busy season, a pre-buy inspection, or the end of a charter series when the aircraft has accumulated months of use. If you are preparing the jet for sale or delivery, the detail and photographic report become part of the handover documentation. For fleet operators, scheduling the detail during a planned maintenance visit at Lyon consolidates downtime rather than adding a separate event later.

Operators who fly frequently in winter—especially routes that involve repeated de-icing—often schedule a spring detail to remove the season's accumulation of Type I and Type IV fluid residue, which bonds to paint and brightwork. Similarly, a detail in early autumn addresses summer oxidation and insect strikes before the aircraft enters the charter season. The decontamination and polish stages are what separate this service from a wash-and-vacuum: they reset the paint and cabin to a known baseline, extending the time between future interventions.