Exterior Dry Wash at Palma de Mallorca Airport (Son Sant Joan) (LEPA)

Why does recurring dry wash make sense at Palma de Mallorca?

Palma sits eight kilometres from the city centre and fewer than two from the Mediterranean coast. Salt-laden air deposits a fine haze on every surface; within forty-eight hours of a polish, leading edges and windscreens show a visible film. Add the June-to-September insect population—cicadas, moths, coastal midges—and the forward fuselage accumulates protein residue faster than on a continental base.

Aircraft spending the summer season here, whether under charter management or owner itineraries, benefit from a dry wash every two to three weeks. The waterless chemistry lifts salt and bug matter without abrading the clearcoat, and because we work on stand there is no tow to a wash pad and no wait for a bay slot. For fleets running tight weekend rotations—Ibiza, Menorca, Barcelona, Nice—the service fits between legs: we start as soon as the GPU connects and finish before the next catering truck arrives.

Transient operators often schedule the wash during a longer stop: a four-hour layover while passengers are at a villa lunch, or overnight when the aircraft remains on the ramp until an early departure. The result is an exterior that photographs well and sheds rain cleanly, which matters when clients are boarding in front of a terminal full of commercial traffic.

What changes at Palma de Mallorca Airport (Son Sant Joan) between summer and the rest of the year?

Palma operates H24 all year—the only round-the-clock airport in the Balearics—but the rhythm changes with the season. The field sits at twenty-seven feet elevation with two runways: 06L/24R at 3,270 metres and 06R/24L at 3,000 metres. It is slot-coordinated year-round at Level 3, with real-time requests handled in H36 mode similar to Barcelona. Between May and October the AIP notes special State-flight arrangements on weekends, and fire category can be raised to Category 9 on request during the April-to-October window.

Three handling agents serve the General Aviation Terminal on the east side: Sky Valet Palma de Mallorca (Gestair), Mallorcair and AviaVIP Palma (Aviapartner). Summer brings higher apron density, tighter stand allocation and longer handler queues for fuel, GPU and tow bars. A dry wash scheduled in advance—ideally filed with the PPR—gives the handler one fewer variable to manage and keeps the aircraft on its assigned stand rather than waiting for wash-bay access that may not exist.

Winter operations are quieter but wetter. Atlantic fronts sweep through November to March, and while the service removes salt and light soiling, it is not a substitute for a full wash if the belly is caked with de-icing fluid or runway grime. We adjust chemistry and dwell time for lower temperatures, and if the aircraft has been cold-soaked overnight we allow the skin to warm before starting work on composite surfaces.

How does the dry-wash process handle Mediterranean salt and insect residue?

Salt haze is hygroscopic: it pulls moisture from the air and forms a sticky layer that traps dust, pollen and exhaust particulate. Left for a week, it etches into single-stage paint; left for a month, it dulls even the best ceramic coating. Our waterless emulsions are formulated to encapsulate salt crystals and suspend them in the cleaning solution, which is then lifted with microfibre bonnets rather than rinsed. No water touches the apron, so there are no environmental-discharge questions and no handler coordination for wash-pad access.

Insect protein requires a different approach. Bug strikes bake onto leading edges, nacelle inlets and windscreens within hours under Mediterranean sun. We pre-treat these areas with a pH-neutral bug remover, allow a short dwell, then work the residue loose with soft applicators. The technique is the same we use on glare shield and radome: enough mechanical action to break the bond, not enough to mar gelcoat or abrade anti-ice boots.

Belly and gear-bay degreasing is part of every exterior dry wash. Hydraulic mist, turbine oil and landing-gear grease accumulate faster in a high-cycle environment—ten legs a week during charter season—and the visual difference after a belly clean is immediate. We avoid high-pressure air around static ports and pitot tubes, and we never spray directly into avionics bays or air-data probes.

What does airside access look like at the General Aviation Terminal?

The General Aviation Terminal sits on the east side of the airport, separate from the main commercial apron. We hold a permanent airside pass and coordinate with whichever handler is on the tech log: Sky Valet, Mallorcair or AviaVIP. The handler provides the escort if required and confirms stand assignment; we bring our own equipment, water supply (for final wipe-down only) and waste containment.

Slot coordination means departure times are firm. If a dry wash is planned as part of a turnaround, we ask for at least four hours on stand for a super-midsize and six for an ultra-long-range type. The handler knows our arrival time, and we start as soon as the aircraft is chocked and the APU or GPU is running for climate control. If the wash must happen overnight, we work under portable lighting and finish before the morning push begins.

Occasionally an operator requests a dry wash immediately after arrival with a same-day departure—common during the Cannes Film Festival or Monaco Grand Prix when the aircraft repositions to Palma between charter legs. In that case we stage at the terminal, monitor the inbound flight and have the team on the ramp within twenty minutes of block-in. The wash proceeds in parallel with refuelling and catering, and the aircraft is clean before the return passengers board.

When should you choose a dry wash instead of a full wet wash at Palma?

A dry wash is maintenance, not restoration. It suits aircraft that are already clean or were polished within the past three months and now carry light soiling—salt film, bug residue, exhaust shadow, dust. If the belly is black with oil, the wings are covered in de-icing residue or the paint shows oxidation, the aircraft needs a wet wash or a single-stage polish, both of which require a hangar or enclosed wash bay.

Palma's General Aviation Terminal does not have a dedicated wash facility. Handlers can sometimes arrange access to a commercial wash pad, but that requires a tow, a separate slot and coordination with airport operations. A dry wash eliminates all three variables: the aircraft stays on stand, the handler's workload is lighter and the departure slot remains intact.

For fleets with a regular maintenance rhythm—say, a full wet wash every eight weeks and a dry wash every two—the service extends the interval between deep cleans and keeps the exterior presentable through the high-use summer season. It also reduces water consumption, which matters at an island airport where potable water is trucked or desalinated and wash-pad discharge is regulated.

How do you manage timing around tight summer slots and weekend operations?

Summer weekends at Palma are the busiest period in the European business-aviation calendar. Slots are tight, stands are full and any delay ripples through the day's schedule. We plan every dry wash with the departure slot in mind: if the aircraft is due off the blocks at fourteen hundred local, we back-time from there—thirty minutes for final walk-around and tech-log sign, fifteen for passenger boarding, six hours for the wash itself—and request stand access no later than oh-seven-thirty.

The handler receives our mobile number and the estimated completion time. If weather delays the inbound or the wash uncovers a maintenance item—a loose fairing, a fluid leak, a cracked lens—we notify the captain and the handler immediately so the slot can be adjusted or released. Most dry washes proceed without incident, but the communication protocol is the same whether the aircraft is transient or based.

For aircraft overnighting, we prefer to start late afternoon and finish by midnight, leaving the exterior to cure overnight and giving the flight crew a clean aircraft for their morning walk-around. If the operator requests an early-morning wash—say, oh-five-hundred start for a nine-hundred departure—we coordinate with airport security and the handler's night shift to ensure access and lighting. The work itself does not change, but the logistics require more advance notice.