How an Embraer Phenom 300 received its most comprehensive inspection, a new cabin, and a new exterior — in one stay at Altenrhein.
Aircraft:
Embraer Phenom 300
Scope:
- Maintenance
- Cabin interior
- Exterior paint
Specialists:
- Altenrhein Aviation
- AeroVisto
- Egli Paint
The occasion
A 120-month inspection is the largest scheduled event in a business jet’s life. The interior comes out, the landing gear comes off, and for several weeks the aircraft stands open in a way it will not again for years. At most locations, that time is simply downtime. At Aviation Plaza Altenrhein, it is a window.
The owner of this Phenom 300 knew the location well. The aircraft had come to Altenrhein for scheduled maintenance year after year, and AeroVisto had handled smaller cabin jobs during those visits — so the owner’s team knew the hangars, the workshops, and the people behind them. When the 120-month inspection appeared on the schedule, the decision followed naturally: use the window in full. Maintenance, cabin, and exterior — one aircraft, one location, one downtime.
One schedule, three trades
The project was planned roughly a year in advance — from the start as one integrated schedule across all three trades. The sequence stood before the aircraft arrived: incoming checks at Altenrhein Aviation, removal of the complete interior, handover of the cabin to AeroVisto, maintenance and interior work running in parallel, and a defined slot in the paint shop. During the maintenance, a weekly meeting between Altenrhein Aviation, the customer’s team, and Embraer kept every open point visible before it could grow into a delay.
Design decisions moved at the same pace. The customer reviewed materials and samples during his visits to Altenrhein, within walking distance of the aircraft they were meant for. The owner, who has managed aircraft projects for years, describes what that proximity is worth: “You have to finish with A before you move to B. If something has to be shipped from afar, it might delay other work. When most of the support companies for a project like this are just around the corner, it helps a lot.”
Maintenance — Altenrhein Aviation
At Altenrhein Aviation, the 120-month inspection formed the backbone of the project: the aircraft’s most comprehensive scheduled maintenance event, including the complete landing gear overhaul. It also set the project’s clock — every other trade planned around its milestones. Findings were reviewed on site, with the people who would resolve them. And because the inspection required the complete removal of the cabin anyway, the refurbishment claimed no additional downtime of its own; it moved into time the maintenance event had already reserved.
For You and Your Aircraft:
The Aviation Plaza Treatment.
Whether you’re planning comprehensive services across multiple domains or specific requirements with individual specialists, Aviation Plaza Altenrhein coordinates delivery through proven expertise at one location. The three specialists operate independently while coordinating systematically—exactly what complex aircraft projects require.
Cabin — AeroVisto
AeroVisto opened its part of the project with a documented incoming inspection, and the findings reshaped the plan. After more than a decade in service, the wood veneer was beyond what revarnishing could restore; AeroVisto re-veneered the cabin woodwork and finished it in dark high gloss. The plating showed comparable wear, so all plated parts were renewed. From there, the work covered the entire cabin: six 16G seats newly upholstered in beige leather with diamond stitching, headliner and linings in light ultraleather, new carpet, new seatbelts, a refreshed cockpit — each step backed by burn testing, approved engineering data, an Engineering Order, and Form 1 documentation. Carsten Matthiesen, Managing Director of AeroVisto Group, sums up the scope in one line: “There is nothing in this cabin we did not touch.”
Exterior — Egli Paint
At Egli Paint, the aircraft received a complete exterior repaint, prepared and finished in the paint shop on the Aviation Plaza site. Location made this the simplest of moves: reaching the paint facility meant a short tow across the airfield — the aircraft never left the site. And while it stood in paint, the other trades kept working, on components and assemblies that had left the aircraft weeks earlier.
Flexibility in practice
Supply chains do not read project plans. When a major part kept the maintenance waiting — the classic delay in any large inspection — the schedule moved, not the outcome. Natascha Rode, Managing Director of AAL AG and Egli Paint GmbH: “We decided to paint the aircraft while waiting for the parts — not to lose valuable time.” Rescheduling of this kind is only possible when every trade shares one location and one plan; between separate suppliers at separate sites, that gap would have become lost downtime.
The result
The handover matched the project: the customer inspected the results on site, the cabin went back in, and the aircraft was redelivered — inspection completed, cabin renewed, exterior repainted, after one stay, on one schedule. The owner’s verdict is brief: “I’m highly satisfied with what they’ve done.”
Matthiesen describes the working mode behind that result: “Here, it runs hand in hand. When a question comes up, someone walks over, and it is resolved at the aircraft. The customer sees everything in one place.”
That is the Aviation Plaza Treatment in practice — three independent specialists, coordinated as one project. Owners and operators are welcome to see the location, and the way of working, for themselves.
The work, trade by trade
Maintenance — Altenrhein Aviation
- 120-month inspection, the aircraft’s most comprehensive scheduled maintenance event, including the complete landing gear overhaul
- Integrated project management with weekly customer and Embraer coordination
Exterior — Egli Paint
- Complete exterior repaint — fuselage, wings, and tail — in the paint shop on site
Cabin interior — AeroVisto
- Complete cabin renewal: all seats, divan, and cockpit seats newly upholstered; new seatbelts including airbag belts
- Headliner, linings, and panels re-covered; cabin woodwork re-veneered and finished in high gloss; all plated parts renewed
- New carpet throughout, window shades refurbished, placards and markings replaced
- Certification: burn testing, approved engineering data, Engineering Order, Form 1
- Interior details and the full gallery: see the AeroVisto client case