Catering to your aircraft in Louis Trichardt Southwest.
At 3,069 ft in Limpopo, Makhado Air Force Base is a military field with civil business jets arriving by arrangement. We cook and pack for the galley you fly, and your FBO hands it over at the aircraft.
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.
Limpopo gives a private jet menu from Makhado Air Force Base more to work with than the airfield suggests. The province grows mango, litchi, avocado and macadamia, and the farms around Louis Trichardt Southwest are known for subtropical fruit that survives a cabin better than most. A private jet menu built here leans on that fruit, on dried game and biltong, and on the braai tradition adapted for a galley. Our private jet platters are cut and boxed so nothing needs a knife in the cabin; gourmet inflight meals come finished in the oven or served chilled; private jet snacks are macadamias, dried mango and biltong slices. The inflight menu is local specialities first, with a safe international line for guests who want one. Private jet food from Limpopo travels well: boerewors is portioned, pap is packed apart, and sauces ride in their own pots. A short note on each dish tells the crew how it finishes, and your FBO hands the whole order over at the aircraft.
A private jet menu for Limpopo starts with the pantry rather than the airport. Around Louis Trichardt Southwest the farms deliver mango, avocado, citrus and macadamia, and the high-veld table adds biltong, droëwors, boerewors and slow-cooked lamb. We write the inflight menu from those local specialities and pack each as private jet food that holds in a drawer: private jet platters of cured meats, fruit and cheese; gourmet inflight meals such as lamb potjie portioned for the oven; private jet snacks of macadamias and dried fruit. Guests from abroad usually want one local plate and one familiar one, so we offer both. Everything is labelled by seat number and by service, and the order is handed to your handling agent for the walk to the aircraft.
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.
Limpopo is citrus, mango, macadamia and game country, and that is what a menu out of FALM should taste of. Our private jet catering for Makhado Air Force Base is cooked and packed by former VIP flight attendants, then handed to your FBO or handling agent for the aircraft. Business aviation catering, executive jet catering and inflight catering all start from the same brief: type, galley, headcount. In-flight catering for state movements, diplomatic flight catering and aviation catering for crews sit in separate orders, and cabin crew meals are added on request.
A typical business jet catering brief at FALM is a small cabin, a single sector and a guest list that changes late. Corporate jet catering and VIP flight catering here lean on Limpopo produce: mango, avocado, macadamia and game. Charter flight catering is packed to the galley, luxury inflight catering uses fruit that survives the cabin, and a private jet chef writes a bespoke menu around the guests and the sector.
At a military field like Makhado Air Force Base, government flight catering is a procedure rather than a menu. Head of state flight catering, VIP aviation catering and state visit aircraft catering share one rule: approvals first, discretion throughout, and a named contact on the ground.
Special meals at Makhado Air Force Base follow a written procedure. South African cooking hides allergens in predictable places: peanut and macadamia in snacks, wheat in pap-adjacent sides and sauces, dairy in custard and malva pudding. Kosher, halal, vegan, gluten free and allergen free orders each get a separate board and a separate box, sealed and marked with the seat number. Kids meals are packed the same way, and the crew sees every restriction on one sheet.
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 FALM the crew often eats last, so crew meals are boxed and labelled CREW. Flight crew meals and pilot meals can be hot or cold, cockpit meals are easy to hold in one hand, and different meals for pilots are available when policy requires. Crew meal boxes and crew catering are on request, and cabin crew meals are added the same way.
FBO catering at Makhado Air Force Base is handed over at the aircraft by your FBO or handling agent. Catering delivery to the FBO is coordinated with the general aviation terminal and ground handling catering sits inside the apron rules. Handling agent catering means one name, one slot and one door.
At Makhado Air Force Base the aircraft you fly settles the loading method for galley catering. A light jet takes boxes through the airstair door; a large-cabin aircraft or a head-of-state type may need a high loader for airside catering delivery, arranged through your handling agent. Tell us the type and where the galley sits so the aircraft provisioning is packed in the right containers, trolleys or cases, and the order lands at the correct door.
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.
FALM is a working air force field in Limpopo, and its general aviation traffic is small and by prior agreement. Airport catering is a planned order rather than a walk-up, with FBO services and ground handling services arranged ahead.
Business aviation hub it is not, but Makhado Air Force Base serves visiting executive jets and the occasional state aircraft. Inflight catering, in-flight catering and aviation catering are written for a small cabin, business aviation catering and executive jet catering follow the same plan, and diplomatic flight catering goes through protocol. Add cabin crew meals to the same order when you book the trip.
South African customs and agricultural rules apply to food leaving and entering by air. Raw meat, dairy and fresh fruit are the usual items held on arrival abroad, so we pack cooked and cured dishes for onward legs and give your handling agent a contents sheet.
Average rating from the cabin crew and pilots we cater for.
“Good preparation made the difference at Makhado Air Force Base Airport, where 10 guests expected vegetarian wraps and colourful salads despite a revised passenger count. With aviation catering, careful attention to cabin service sequence matters as much to our crew as the menu itself. The Galley Girls talked through the quantities of main courses with us before confirmation, rather than leaving us to guess the portions. There was enough information about the canapés to brief the crew without making assumptions about what had been ordered.”
“Breakfast was already sorted; at FALM, the next request was vegetarian wraps and colourful salads for 7 guests, with a tight boarding window to work around. The Galley Girls prepared the main courses for assembly in the galley, with the accompanying elements easy to locate. We could finish the starters as each guest was ready, rather than laying everything out at once. I would discuss aviation catering services with them again, especially when catering handover needs careful coordination.”
“Passenger preferences led us to roasted vegetable bowls with separate dressings at Makhado Air Force Base Airport; 8 portions were needed, with limited fridge space factored into preparation. The Galley Girls labelled the sandwiches in line with our brief, so the cabin team could identify the relevant portions quickly. I found the sauces without searching through every box, a small detail that mattered during the final cabin checks. I want an aviation catering company to understand galley preparation, and this order gave us a useful starting point.”
The honest answer starts with the produce. Mango, citrus and macadamia from Limpopo are cheap and good; shipped-in oysters are neither. Crew meals, when you want them, are a separate line on request. We give a price per menu before anything is cooked.
Seats change, menus follow: we re-cut the cold platters, add or remove hot mains and relabel everything. Last-minute orders at FALM are accepted day or night, and you reach a flight attendant on the phone or by email.
Say where you are heading and we tell you what travels. A South African return leg with biltong or fresh mango might not survive arrival rules abroad; a cooked lamb dish and a baked dessert usually do.
If you carry food in, let your handling agent know before arrival and keep it sealed. We can match it with a cold board or a hot main so the meal feels complete.
Charter pricing does not include meals. With two services planned, tell us the flight length and the galley, and we build a hot service and a cold service that do not compete for oven space.
Tail, pax and diets — a flight attendant takes it from there, day or night.
