Catering to your aircraft in Lijiang.
ZPLJ sits above 7,000 feet, which changes appetite and what a cabin can do. Our crew meals and guest menus are built for that, by former VIP flight attendants.
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.
Yunnan is the most varied larder in China, and Lijiang draws on it directly. A private jet menu for Lijiang can open with Naxi dishes: baba, the flat griddled bread, cured ham, and yak or pork ribs braised until they re-plate cleanly. Local specialities travel differently in a galley, so each one is chosen for how it finishes on board.
Wild mushrooms are the headline product of the Yunnan season, and they suit an inflight menu because they hold texture when finished in the oven. Pu'er and Dian Hong tea, Yunnan coffee and walnuts fill out the private jet food list, while Lijiang itself is the name guests expect to see on the card.
For a Lijiang departure we build the inflight menu around ZPLJ's cool, thin air, where guests want warmth and less salt. Cold items stay simple: cheese, cured meats, fruit. Yunnan Province suppliers shape the whole private jet menu, and anything not at its best that week is left off.
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.
Lijiang Sanyi sits at 7,359 feet in Yunnan, and the cabin there is dry and cool before the engines even start. Private jet catering for ZPLJ is built around that: warm Naxi dishes, local mushrooms, fruit that travels well. Inflight catering and in-flight catering here lean on what holds in a drawer, while aviation catering and business aviation catering stay tied to the handling agent and your slot. Executive jet catering, diplomatic flight catering and cabin crew meals follow the same plan, written by former VIP flight attendants.
At LJG, business jet catering starts with who is flying and how long they stay. Corporate jet catering and charter flight catering are written to a bespoke menu, with a private jet chef adapting Yunnan produce to the galley. VIP flight catering and luxury inflight catering keep service precise; crew meals can be added on request and are invoiced like the rest of the order.
For government flight catering at ZPLJ, the protocol office comes before the kitchen. Head of state flight catering is built from traceable Yunnan produce, VIP aviation catering is kept discreet, and state visit aircraft catering is agreed with the handling agent before the slot.
Dietary requests at Lijiang start from the local kitchen. Soy sauce, peanut oil and wheat noodles are everywhere in Yunnan cooking, so allergen free and gluten free dishes are built from scratch rather than adapted. Kosher, halal, vegan, kids meals and other special meals are agreed before cooking, boxed separately and marked by seat number.
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.
The crew at Lijiang eats last, so crew meals here are built to hold. Flight crew meals, pilot meals and cockpit meals travel in crew meal boxes, marked by role, and crew catering is ordered on request and invoiced like any order. Different meals for pilots are packed apart. Our cabin crew meals follow the same labelling, with the aircraft's galley in mind.
FBO catering at Lijiang is handed over to your handling agent at the general aviation terminal. Catering delivery to the FBO is arranged for your slot, ground handling catering is coordinated with the apron team, and handling agent catering means one contact to open the right door.
Lijiang handles business jets mostly, but larger cabin aircraft come for the high season, and galley catering is planned to the type. Tell us the aircraft and whether a high loader is needed: airside catering delivery then goes to the door the handling agent opens. Aircraft provisioning at ZPLJ is cleared with the ground side before the slot, with trolleys and boxes sized for the galley and the stairs.
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.
Lijiang Sanyi International is the main door into northwest Yunnan, and it works as a seasonal business aviation hub rather than a year-round one. Airport catering here follows the tourist calendar. General aviation is modest but regular, FBO services are what the handling agent arranges at the terminal, and ground handling services are coordinated on the apron side.
Business aviation at ZPLJ peaks in clear-weather months, when guests head for the old town and the mountain. As a business aviation hub it stays small, so inflight catering and in-flight catering orders arrive in clusters. Aviation catering and business aviation catering follow the weather, executive jet catering suits small groups, diplomatic flight catering is occasional, and cabin crew meals and crew meals are ordered with the trip.
China controls food imports strictly, and for a business aviation hub like Lijiang that shapes every order. Customs inspect what leaves with the aircraft, the handling agent knows the airside route, and sourcing in Yunnan keeps the paperwork light.
Average rating from the cabin crew and pilots we cater for.
“For 3 passengers departing from Lijiang Sanyi International Airport, the agreed menu was grilled salmon with a lemon dressing; our main consideration was a family lunch request. For private jet food, that attention to catering handover made the order noticeably easier to manage. After a final adjustment to the fruit plates, The Galley Girls gave us one revised order summary to work from. There was no need to reconstruct the desserts quantities from several messages during the final departure checks.”
“Keeping the galley organised at ZPLJ meant planning mini sandwiches and individual desserts for 12 guests with several individual meal preferences in mind. The sandwiches supplied by The Galley Girls were straightforward to check against the written menu before the cabin handover. We could distinguish the side dishes at a glance instead of lifting lids just to establish what belonged to each service. My main takeaway from this private jet meals order was the practical approach to cabin service sequence.”
“We kept the passenger brief simple at LJG: a selection of petits fours and sandwiches for 12 guests, organised with a family lunch request in mind. With several people involved, The Galley Girls kept the crew provisions and delivery arrangements together in a concise order update. Knowing where the sauces were packed meant the crew could begin the relevant checks as soon as the order arrived. The order made private jet menu feel manageable because the written menu details had been considered beforehand.”
Price comes from what is on the tray. Lijiang's early morning departures favour items that were prepared the day before, night ones favour dishes that finish well at room temperature. How much private jet catering costs follows those choices.
A long leg out of Lijiang with two services is better briefed early, but a late request is still taken. Lead time is simply the time it takes to match the menu to the galley.
Special-meal boxes at ZPLJ go through the same customs and security checks as any airside delivery. Because they are made locally, nothing needs importing.
Bringing food to Lijiang is a customs question first. A local ingredient from Yunnan, chosen for the menu, avoids it, and we pack it for the drawer.
Catering sits apart from the charter contract. Lijiang's seasonal weather decides when aircraft actually leave, so we plan around the real slot and invoice food as its own order.
Tail, pax and diets — a flight attendant takes it from there, day or night.
