Air France adopts new exterior aircraft cleaning methods

Air France is continuing its efforts to reduce the impact of its operations on the environment and is introducing an innovative new process for cleaning the exterior of its entire fleet, dividing by 100 by the amount of water necessary.

This manufacturing process, initially developed for medium-haul aircraft, is now being used for long-haul aircraft at the Company’s maintenance sites.

How does it work? 

The technique for applying the product with wipes requires a small amount of water compared with traditional cleaning and reduces water consumption used for the external cleaning of aircraft by 100. For example, the polishing of a Boeing 777, which required 10,000 litres of water before, now only requires 100 litres. This divides aircraft cleaning time by three.

The product used is over 96% biodegradable, non-toxic, non flammable and allows staff to work without individual protective equipment. It complies with all European environmental directives.

Numerous advantages for the environment 

• The frequent exterior cleaning and polishing of the aircraft provides optimal air penetration, thus reducing fuel emissions, and consequently CO2 emissions.
• This process significantly reduces the need for treating waste water.  
• The impact of ground water savings has led Aéroports de Paris to validate the use of this product on the ramp and in areas in contact with the terminal, thus limiting the need to tow aircraft to washing stations.

Introduced in partnership with UUDS, a French company specializing in services to airlines, this system called Ecoshine® enables Air France to save more than 8 million litres of water and over 57 metric tons of CO2 per year

  source;airfrance website