Cabin Disinfection at St. Gallen-Altenrhein (LSZR)

What does cabin disinfection cover at St. Gallen-Altenrhein?

We treat every high-touch surface in the cabin, galley and lavatory: seats, armrests, tables, latches, switches, door handles, seatbelt hardware and control panels. Air vents and gaspers are cleaned and disinfected because they sit in the breathing zone. The products are aviation-approved, so they will not damage OEM cabin materials, and we follow manufacturer guidance on dwell times and application methods.

Odour removal is part of the service. If the cabin carries smoke, food or fuel odours, we neutralise them during the disinfection pass. You receive a certificate of treatment at the end, listing the date, aircraft registration, products used and surfaces covered. That certificate goes into your tech log or charter file, and it answers the question from passengers or auditors before they ask it.

How does the timing work between legs at Altenrhein?

Cabin disinfection takes one to two hours, depending on cabin size and configuration. A super-midsize cabin is usually finished in an hour; an ultra-long-range layout with multiple lavatories and a full galley may take ninety minutes. If you are turning the aircraft for an outbound charter or repositioning, we coordinate the start time with your handler so the cabin is ready when the crew returns from the FBO.

Most operators schedule disinfection during overnight stops or between morning arrival and afternoon departure. Altenrhein does not require slots or PPR allocation for business aviation, so if the turnaround tightens or the inbound is delayed, we adjust on the day. The handling agent present at the airport—Airport Altenrhein AG Ground Services—will call us onto the ramp when the aircraft is on stand and the cabin door is open. We bring our own supplies and lighting, so the GPU can stay on or off depending on what else is happening around the aircraft.

What changes at St. Gallen-Altenrhein?

St. Gallen-Altenrhein sits at 1,306 feet on the southern shore of Lake Constance, next to the Austrian, German and Liechtenstein borders. The single runway—10/28, with 1,455 metres available—has ILS CAT I on runway 10, and the field is a customs-clearing airport with Schengen and non-Schengen immigration, so international flights arrive and depart directly. Business aviation is handled by the airport operator's own FBO and ground services at Flughafenstrasse 11, and there is no slot or PPR requirement.

The lake and the elevation together mean that humidity sits in the cabin whenever the aircraft is cold-soaked, and that humidity carries mould spores and bacteria into the air path. Disinfection after a long-haul arrival clears the cabin before passengers board for the next leg. The field is open to Austria, Germany and Liechtenstein without a border stop, so charter operators use Altenrhein for quick positioning into the Alps or onward to Zurich and Milan. If the cabin has been occupied by multiple passengers over several legs, disinfection between charters keeps the interior neutral and reduces the risk of cross-contamination.

Do you provide a certificate or photo report after disinfection?

Yes. Every cabin disinfection at St. Gallen-Altenrhein comes with a certificate of treatment that lists the aircraft registration, date, products used, surfaces treated and the name of the technician who performed the work. The certificate is signed and dated, and we hand it to the captain or flight-department manager before we leave the ramp. It goes into your tech log, charter file or SMS records, and it satisfies the documentation requirement if a passenger, auditor or health authority asks for proof.

If you need a photo report—showing before-and-after images of the cabin, close-ups of treated surfaces, or time-stamped frames for insurance or charter-broker files—we include that at no extra charge. The report is sent by email within two hours of finishing the work, and it can be forwarded to the charter client or uploaded to your flight-operations platform the same day. Some operators ask for the photo report as standard on every medical or VIP charter; we build it into the workflow so there is no delay.

What products do you use, and are they safe for cabin materials?

We use aviation-approved disinfectants that meet EN or EPA standards for bactericidal, virucidal and fungicidal efficacy, and that are cleared by airframe and completion-centre OEMs for use on leather, Alcantara, veneer, composite panels and high-gloss surfaces. The products are applied by microfibre or electrostatic sprayer, depending on the surface, and we follow the manufacturer's dwell time so the active ingredients work without leaving residue.

Odour neutralisation is done with enzymatic or activated-oxygen treatments, not masking sprays, so the source of the odour is broken down rather than covered. If the cabin has been exposed to smoke, we ventilate and treat the air path as well as the soft furnishings. We do not touch avionics, flight-deck instruments or any panel marked 'no cleaning' by the OEM, and we avoid over-wetting, which can damage glue lines or electronics. The cabin is dry and ready to board as soon as we finish.

When should you schedule cabin disinfection at Altenrhein?

Disinfection is recommended after every charter, medical transport or long-haul flight, or whenever the cabin has been occupied by multiple passengers over consecutive legs. If the aircraft is used for medical evacuation, disinfection is often required by the operator's SMS or by the receiving hospital before the aircraft returns to charter service. If the cabin carries a persistent odour—smoke, fuel, food or biological—disinfection and odour neutralisation together will clear it in one pass.

Some flight departments schedule disinfection on a calendar basis: weekly during high-utilisation periods, or before every VIP charter. Others request it on demand, after a passenger reports an odour or when the aircraft has been parked for several days in high humidity. At St. Gallen-Altenrhein, where lake moisture accelerates mould growth in the air path, disinfection after a cold-soaked overnight stop reduces the risk of cabin air quality complaints on the next leg. We work to your schedule, whether that is part of a planned turnaround or an AOG call after an unscheduled event.