Catering to your aircraft in East London.
A short apron, a handling agent who knows your tail, and a menu built from the Eastern Cape. That is how we work at East London.
We know the galley, the diet card and the 5 a.m. re-plate — because we lived them. So we built the caterer we always wished we could call.
Fourteen years on VIP and head-of-state cabins. Can plate for twelve in a G650 galley and still land it hot.
The one who reads every diet card twice. If it says no cross-contact, it means no cross-contact.
Answers at 5 a.m. when the leg moved overnight. Same-day swaps are her love language.
The Eastern Cape table is coastal and pastoral at once, and a private jet menu for East London reads that way. Line fish and Wild Coast prawns travel chilled, Karoo lamb travels as a roast that carves in the galley, and the local specialities of the province, from malva pudding to Eastern Cape citrus, fit a drawer as well as a plate.
An inflight menu built around the Eastern Cape starts with what the coast and the interior supply. Private jet food here means East London seafood, Karoo lamb and game, farm cheeses and the sweeter side of the province, all listed as local specialities with the way each one finishes in your galley.
Tail, pax, diets, timing. One message — no portal, no quote form. Answered at any hour, by a flight attendant.
Leak-proof boxes, marked by guest and restriction, with reheating times written on the lid.
Two minutes out of the drawer. Whatever you ordered for the crew comes in the same delivery, and one clean invoice follows.
King Phalo Airport sits at 435 feet on the Eastern Cape coast, a quiet general aviation field where business jets arrive for East London, the Wild Coast and the Karoo beyond. Private jet catering here follows the produce of the province: line fish, Karoo lamb, citrus, and a galley brief written by former VIP flight attendants. Inflight catering and in-flight catering are packed for the aircraft you actually fly, aviation catering is boxed for the FBO, and business aviation catering covers executive jet catering, diplomatic flight catering and cabin crew meals on the same order.
At FAEL, business jet catering and corporate jet catering start with the cabin and the passengers. Charter flight catering is quoted the same way as VIP flight catering; our private jet chef builds a bespoke menu, and luxury inflight catering is finished by your crew.
For a state arrival at East London, government flight catering is planned with the protocol office. Head of state flight catering, VIP aviation catering and state visit aircraft catering are labelled, sealed and handed to your agent at the aircraft.
Dietary requests at King Phalo are handled as a procedure. Kosher, halal, vegan, gluten free and allergen free special meals are cooked on a clean board, sealed and marked by seat; kids meals are built to the age on the manifest. On the Eastern Cape table the usual hidden allergens are nuts in baked sweets and shellfish in sauces, so those are checked first.
A sheet per guest. Separate boards, separate boxes.
Sealed, certificate in the same box.
Their own menu, nothing to cut at altitude.
Vegan, low-carb, light — composed, never compromised.
At East London we build crew meals around the rotation: flight crew meals for the leg, pilot meals one-handed, crew catering marked CREW, and cockpit meals kept away from the guest service. Crew meal boxes are on request, invoiced as usual, with different meals for pilots when needed.
FBO catering at King Phalo ends with a handover at the general aviation terminal. Catering delivery to the FBO is coordinated through your handling agent; ground handling catering and handling agent catering run on your slot, and the van reaches the apron through airside access.
On the King Phalo apron, the type on your tail sets how the galley gets loaded. A light jet takes a cooler carried up the stairs; a larger cabin may need a high loader and airside catering delivery, arranged with your handling agent. Galley catering is packed to the oven and drawer space of the type, and aircraft provisioning is confirmed against the tail before it leaves the kitchen.
Mention it when you orderCertified, inspected, with cold-chain records filed against your trip.
Whichever terminal you park at, handover is at the aircraft, on your slot.
Allergen sheet per guest, halal and kosher on request, sealed and labelled.
Itemised and trip-report ready, sent after the leg.
King Phalo Airport is the business aviation hub of East London: a general aviation field of business jets and light aircraft on the Eastern Cape coast. FBO services and ground handling services are available on request, airport catering is ordered through the handling agent, and customs clearance for international arrivals is arranged in advance.
As a business aviation hub, FAEL runs quietly. Inflight catering and in-flight catering reach executive jet catering customers through the FBO, aviation catering and business aviation catering are boxed by seat, and diplomatic flight catering, cabin crew meals and crew meals can be added to the same order.
Arriving at this business aviation hub, customs at East London inspects food entering the country, and animal products are the usual issue. We recommend local catering, prepared in South Africa and handed over through your handling agent.
Average rating from the cabin crew and pilots we cater for.
“My order at FAEL covered mini sandwiches and individual desserts for 3 guests, with a practical service plan needed because of limited fridge space. The Galley Girls labelled the fruit plates in line with our brief, so the cabin team could identify the relevant portions quickly. The desserts were also listed clearly, which made it easier to pass instructions between crew members during preparation. I appreciated the emphasis on final order confirmation throughout the in-flight catering services arrangements.”
“Working around a late menu amendment at ELS, I asked for chicken skewers with a couscous salad in portions appropriate for our 5 passengers. Our request to The Galley Girls focused on the salads, with enough detail to distinguish passenger portions from additional provisions. It was useful to see the side dishes listed separately when checking how much space the complete order would require. This experience of aviation catering gave us a useful reference for managing written menu details on another departure.”
“Before our guests boarded at King Phalo Airport, we needed fresh fruit and breakfast pastries divided into 2 portions suitable for a small galley worktop. The Galley Girls understood why we wanted the crew provisions readily accessible instead of spread across several different boxes. For aviation catering services, that attention to crew briefing made the order noticeably easier to manage. The side dishes were reserved for the next stage, so the worktop stayed clear while we prepared the initial dishes.”
It depends on what the cabin needs. An empty repositioning leg may need only crew meals and water, while a full guest service with Wild Coast prawns costs more than a cold plate. We quote per menu, not per tray.
Galley first, lead time second. For King Phalo we ask the type and the equipment, then confirm. Same-day orders are taken, 24/7.
For special meals at King Phalo, customs matters if you bring food from abroad. Meals prepared here are covered by our own labelling, and the sealed pack goes straight to the galley.
Carrying food into the country means declaring it, and some items will not pass. Ordering from us means the handover happens at the FBO on your slot, through the agent you already use.
Catering and charter are billed apart. We handle the food, you or your broker handle the aircraft. For a South Africa arrival, local catering sidesteps customs.
Tail, pax and diets — a flight attendant takes it from there, day or night.
