Quick Turn at Palermo Falcone e Borsellino (LICJ)

What does a Quick Turn include at Palermo?

The scope is fixed: cabin vacuum and surface wipe-down, lavatory and galley reset with bins emptied and restocked using supplies you provide or pre-position, cockpit and cabin windows cleaned inside, and a waterless exterior wipe of the nose, leading edges and the area around the entry door. Trash goes off the aircraft, and we neutralise cabin scent before the next passengers board.

Duration runs 45 to 90 minutes depending on airframe—60 minutes is typical for a super-midsize, 75 for a large-cabin type. The exterior work is rinseless, so no GPU spool-up for a full wash and no water-authority approvals. Everything happens on stand, often while fuelling proceeds on the opposite side. You get a time-stamped photo set and a brief write-up in the tech log if your SOP calls for it.

How do airside access and handler coordination work at LICJ?

GES.A.P. manages the airport, and handling agents present at the airport control ramp access and issue airside escorts. We hold our own permanent airside pass, but the handler still gates us onto the apron and confirms stand assignment. For a recurring programme—say, a charter operator turning the same aircraft twice a week—the handler usually adds us to a standing coordination list, and the process becomes a two-minute radio call when you land.

One-off requests take longer. You or your dispatcher notify the handler at least four hours before block-in, ideally when filing the PPR. The handler then notifies us, we confirm crew-supplied consumables or arrange to collect them from the FBO office, and we pre-position on the apron or in the handler's crew room. Because the airport is 35 km from Palermo at Punta Raisi, road transfers from the city add 30 to 40 minutes, so early notice matters if we are coming from another job.

What changes at Palermo Falcone e Borsellino for a Quick Turn?

The airport sits at 65 feet elevation with two runways: 07/25 at 3,326 metres (60 metres wide, displaced thresholds both ends) and the shorter 02/20 at 2,068 metres. Most business-aviation movements use 07/25, and stands are typically close to the commercial terminal, so taxi time is short and ground time tight. That makes the 45-minute floor realistic only if consumables are already on site and the handler has cleared us before you block in.

There is no curfew and no formal slot-coordination scheme, but summer schedule density—June through September—means stands can be contested and handlers sometimes ask you to vacate quickly. A Quick Turn fits that rhythm because the aircraft never goes tech and you are not waiting for a decon crew or a two-stage polish to finish. Winter sees lower traffic, longer available ground time and fewer stand conflicts, so scheduling becomes easier and we can layer in a cabin-detail upgrade if the flight deck wants it.

Recurring schedule versus one-off Quick Turn—what is the difference?

A recurring schedule means we know your tail number, your consumable preferences, your preferred stand-by distance and whether you want the photo report sent to the chief pilot or the dispatcher. The handler knows us, the ramp supervisor waves us through, and we are on stand before you shut down. Invoicing runs monthly, and the crew never touches paperwork on the day.

One-off work requires a fresh coordination cycle every time: handler notification, airside-escort request, consumable hand-over and a stand-by confirmation. It works perfectly well—most of our PMO turns are one-offs—but it adds 15 minutes to the lead time and raises the chance that a stand change or a late block-in compresses the window. If you are turning at Palermo more than twice a month, a recurring agreement smooths everything and usually saves the flight department ten minutes per cycle.

What documentation and photo reporting do you provide?

Every Quick Turn closes with a time-stamped photo set: cabin overview, galley and lavatory after reset, cockpit windows and the exterior areas we wiped. The set goes to the email address you provide—chief pilot, dispatcher or handler—before you push back, so the next crew knows the aircraft is flight-ready. If your SOP requires a tech-log entry, we write a one-line sign-off with our company stamp and the date; some operators prefer a separate service sheet tucked into the journey log, and we carry both formats.

For recurring customers we also keep a rolling file: every photo set, every service date, every anomaly (a cracked window seal, a galley latch that needed adjustment, a stain we noted but could not remove with the approved chemistry). That file lives in a shared folder, and fleet managers use it for trend analysis or pre-purchase inspection prep. One-off customers receive the same day-of-service documentation but no long-term archive unless they ask for it.

When should an operator book a Quick Turn at Palermo?

The service makes sense whenever you have passengers disembarking, new passengers boarding and no time for a full detail. Charter operators use it between morning and afternoon legs; fractional programmes use it when the aircraft repositions from one owner segment to the next; and some flight departments write it into every turnaround SOP so the cabin never degrades past a certain threshold.

Book as soon as you have a block-in time—four hours' notice is the floor, 24 hours is comfortable, a week ahead is ideal for summer slots. If the aircraft is already on a recurring schedule at another Italian airport, we can often extend that programme to Palermo with a single contract amendment and a handler introduction. The goal is always the same: you land, we work, you depart, and the next crew finds the aircraft exactly as they expect it.