Quick Turn at Memmingen (Allgäu Airport) (EDJA)

How does a quick turn fit inside ground time at Memmingen?

Timing is the whole point. When you land, refuel and board the next leg in ninety minutes, there is no window for a three-hour wash. A quick turn is built around that constraint: we start as soon as the door opens and finish before the new passengers arrive. For a super-midsize the cabin and exterior wipe usually takes forty-five to sixty minutes; an ultra-long-range airframe with a larger galley and more seats runs seventy to ninety. We coordinate directly with ALLgate, the airport's handling subsidiary, so the team is on the apron when you taxi in.

The work is sequential. Cabin vacuum and surface wipe-down happen first, then the galley reset and bin service, lavatory cleaning, and finally the cockpit and cabin windows. Outside, one technician does a waterless wipe of the nose cone, wing leading edges and the area around the entry door—the parts passengers and clients see. Trash comes off the aircraft, and if you keep a stock of supplies with us or the handler we restock the bins and galley. The result is not a showroom finish, but it is flight-ready and professional, and it keeps the aircraft out of the cycle where small neglect becomes large expense.

What changes at Memmingen (Allgäu Airport)?

Memmingen sits at 2,077 feet elevation in the Allgäu foothills, one of the highest commercial airports in Germany, and that altitude brings colder winters and a longer de-icing season. From November through March expect frozen leading edges, ice in the gear bays and frost on the belly before sunrise departures. A waterless exterior wipe will clear light frost and road film but not ice; if the aircraft has been cold-soaked overnight you will need Type I fluid from the handler before we touch the wings. The single runway, 06/24 at 2,630 metres, handles everything from turboprops to narrowbodies, and the general-aviation apron—Apron 3—is on the southern side of the field, opposite the passenger terminal.

Operating hours run 06:00 to 22:00 local, with a PPR-only extension to 23:00 for delayed flights; the airport is closed overnight, so any detailing work must fit inside the daytime window. Memmingen is Level 2 schedules-facilitated, meaning you should confirm your arrival time with the airport even though slots are not formally required. Ground handling is done by ALLgate, the airport's own subsidiary, and there is no separate FBO; airside access for contractors goes through ALLgate and the airport operations desk. Customs and border control are on site, arranged through flight ops when you file.

When does a quick turn make sense instead of a full detail?

Use a quick turn when the aircraft is already clean and you need to maintain that standard between legs, or when ground time is too short for anything deeper. If the cabin was detailed two days ago and you are doing three legs across Europe this week, a quick turn at each stop keeps the interior fresh without the cost or time of repeated full cleans. It also works when you have an unexpected charter pickup and the aircraft has been sitting for a few days: a fast vacuum, galley wipe and window clean make the cabin presentable without pushing your departure.

A quick turn will not fix neglect. If the carpets are stained, the galley has baked-on spills or the exterior has months of exhaust residue, you need a full interior valet or wash and polish, not a forty-five-minute wipe. The service assumes the aircraft is in reasonable condition and you are maintaining it between deeper cleans. For fleets operating a hub-and-spoke pattern through Memmingen or southern Bavaria, a standing quick-turn schedule—every second rotation, or weekly—keeps the cabin and exterior ahead of the problem and reduces the frequency of expensive deep cleans.

Can you turn an aircraft on short notice at EDJA?

Yes, if the scheduling allows. We ask for at least four hours' notice so the team can clear the current job, gather supplies and coordinate airside access with ALLgate. Same-day requests work when we have a technician in the area and the handler can escort us onto the apron without delay; if the airport is busy or you arrive during a wave of scheduled airline departures, access may take longer. The more notice you give, the more reliably we can meet your ground time.

For fleets and regular charter operators, a standing arrangement is simpler: you tell us the tail numbers and the typical rotation, we build the schedule around your pattern, and the quick turn happens automatically each time you land. No back-and-forth, no last-minute calls. If a leg cancels or delays, a message to our operations desk is enough. That model works especially well at Memmingen, where the daytime-only operating window and the Level 2 scheduling mean your arrival times are usually predictable and the handler knows you are coming.

What does the waterless exterior wipe actually cover?

The wipe is targeted, not comprehensive. We clean the nose cone, the wing and tail leading edges, the area around the entry door, and sometimes the windscreen if it is dusty—the parts that passengers see when they board and that affect the first impression. The technique is rinseless: a polymer-based spray lubricates the surface, loosens the dirt, and is wiped away with a microfibre cloth. It removes light dust, pollen, exhaust haze and road film but not heavy grime, insect strikes or de-icing fluid residue. If the belly is filthy or the nacelles are covered in oil, a waterless wipe will not solve it; you need a full wash with a ladder and a hose.

The advantage is speed and no water. At Memmingen, where winter temperatures and the daytime-only operation limit when and how you can wash, a waterless wipe keeps the aircraft looking attended-to between proper washes. It also works on the ramp in any weather, with no need for a wash pad, no runoff concerns, and no wait for the surface to dry. For a quick turn the exterior wipe is insurance: it ensures the client boarding in Munich this afternoon does not see three days of dust on the nose.

How do recurring quick turns work for a fleet based in southern Germany?

We build the schedule around your rotation and treat each quick turn as a standing appointment. You give us the tail numbers, the typical arrival days and times at Memmingen, and any specific requests—extra attention to the galley, a particular cabin scent, restocking from your stock or ours—and we program the work into the calendar. Each time the aircraft lands, the team is waiting; the quick turn happens, the tech log is signed, and the invoice goes to your accounts department at the end of the month. If a leg cancels or moves, you tell us and we adjust. If you add a tail or change the base, we update the programme.

The model works because it removes the transaction cost. You do not book each turn individually, you do not coordinate access each time, and you do not wonder whether the cabin will be ready. For a charter operator running a fleet of super-midsizes out of Bavaria, or a corporate flight department with two long-range jets splitting time between EDJA and other regional airports, the standing quick-turn schedule is the difference between constant small headaches and a cabin that is always ready. The cost is predictable, the quality is consistent, and your chief pilot has one fewer thing to manage.