Catering to your aircraft in Manado.
At Sam Ratulangi International, flights tend to be short, tropical and seafood-driven. We pack catering for the galley you have, for Manado.
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.
North Sulawesi has its own table, and a private jet menu for Manado is easiest to write when you start from it. Minahasan cooking runs on chilli, lemongrass, ginger and fresh herbs, with fish pulled from the Celebes Sea. That is the base of any inflight menu we build for Sam Ratulangi International: local specialities, translated to what a galley drawer and one oven can actually deliver.
Cakalang, the skipjack tuna, is the signature. Smoked over coconut husk as cakalang fufu it travels well and reads as private jet food that belongs to the region. Tinutuan, the Manado rice and vegetable porridge, suits a morning departure from WAMM, and woku-style fish, cooked with spices and leaves, can be chilled and reheated.
Sweet notes come from klappertaart, a Dutch-influenced coconut custard that Manado has made its own, and from pisang goroho, a local banana. Nutmeg and cloves from the Sulawesi and Maluku islands flavour desserts and tea. Each of these local specialities in North Sulawesi is boxed and labelled so the crew can serve it without guessing.
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.
Sam Ratulangi International sits at 264 ft above the sea on the Minahasa peninsula, and Manado trips tend to be built around diving, fishing and spice-island sectors. Private jet catering here means fish that has to stay cold, rice that has to stay warm, and a galley that is often small. Our inflight catering is cooked and packed by former VIP flight attendants, with aviation catering coordinated through your FBO or handling agent for business aviation catering, executive jet catering, diplomatic flight catering and cabin crew meals, all on request.
Business jet catering at MDC starts with the aircraft and the guests. Corporate jet catering for a Manado fly-in might be a cold lunch with cakalang and fruit; VIP flight catering for a family heading for the islands is more elaborate. Charter flight catering suits groups. A private jet chef writes a bespoke menu, and luxury inflight catering is plated in the cabin.
For official flights through Manado, government flight catering is briefed before cooking. Head of state flight catering, VIP aviation catering and state visit aircraft catering share one rule: sealed, labelled and handed over only to the people named on the order.
Manado cooking leans on wheat-free staples like rice and sago, but not everywhere: sauces may carry soy, shrimp paste or peanuts, and fried items share oil. We cook special meals on separate boards and in separate boxes, with kosher, halal, vegan, gluten free, allergen free and kids meals labelled by seat. Halal is common across Indonesia; kosher is arranged on request with sealed packaging.
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.
Ask for crew meals and we pack them as their own order, invoiced like the rest. Flight crew meals for a Manado turnaround, pilot meals that go in a tray beside the seat, crew catering for a second leg: each is boxed with a seat number. Cockpit meals stay separate, crew meal boxes are labelled, and we cook different meals for pilots where the policy requires it. Cabin crew meals follow the same pattern.
FBO catering at Sam Ratulangi International is handed over at the general aviation terminal or at the aircraft, depending on access. Catering delivery to the FBO is coordinated with your handling agent, and ground handling catering is cleared for the airside run. Handling agent catering stays within the access plan your agent gives us.
For larger aircraft at Sam Ratulangi International, galley catering is loaded using a high loader at the main door, and airside catering delivery runs through your handling agent. Tell us the type and the galley layout, and aircraft provisioning is packed in trolleys or boxes to match: carts for a wide-body, drawers and boxes for a light jet.
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.
Sam Ratulangi International is the main gateway to North Sulawesi and a business aviation hub for the Minahasa peninsula, 264 ft above sea level. Airport catering here shares the apron with commercial and charter traffic, while general aviation runs through its own terminal. FBO services and ground handling services decide how a tray reaches the aircraft, so the handover point is settled with your handling agent.
Business aviation at Manado is tied to diving, mining and island hopping, which makes MDC a working business aviation hub for fish-led trips. Inflight catering and in-flight catering for these sectors lean on cakalang and rice. Aviation catering and business aviation catering move through the FBO, with FBO services and ground handling services opening the gate. Executive jet catering suits the short VIP legs, diplomatic flight catering fits official visits, and cabin crew meals and crew meals complete the order.
Indonesian customs and agricultural quarantine can inspect the galley on arrival, and fresh meat, fruit and dairy from abroad are often held. Your handling agent and the FBO services desk know which lanes ground handling services open for airside access, so a Manado order stays simple. Halal is well understood locally.
Average rating from the cabin crew and pilots we cater for.
“Good preparation made the difference at MDC, where 9 guests expected a seafood starter and warm vegetable sides despite a small galley worktop. Instead of asking us to improvise, The Galley Girls explained how the canapés could be arranged during service. Keeping the salads aside until service helped preserve the presentation while we dealt with the boarding tasks. The order made business jet catering feel manageable because the meal organisation had been considered beforehand.”
“My order at Sam Ratulangi International Airport covered smoked salmon bagels and sliced fruit for 7 guests, with a practical service plan needed because of a revised passenger count. The fruit plates from The Galley Girls were organised around the cabin plan, with the later service items kept apart. I appreciated the emphasis on cabin service sequence throughout the business aviation catering arrangements. The sauces were reserved for the next stage, so the worktop stayed clear while we prepared the initial dishes.”
“Passenger preferences led us to beef fillet with roasted potatoes at WAMM; 5 portions were needed, with a changing departure schedule factored into preparation. I appreciated the emphasis on cabin service sequence throughout the jet catering arrangements. The Galley Girls talked through the quantities of main courses with us before confirmation, rather than leaving us to guess the portions. It was useful to see the side dishes listed separately when checking how much space the complete order would require.”
Take two Manado departures: a night one that suits cold cakalang platters and sealed fruit, and an early one built around tinutuan. The second costs more in labour, the first in chilled stock. Private jet catering is quoted per menu once you tell us the slot and the guests, so ask how much private jet catering cost looks like for your sector and we write it out.
Here the lead time depends less on the kitchen than on the gate: your handling agent confirms the route onto the apron and we pack to that slot. Tell us the tail and the access plan, and last-minute orders are handled where the airside permit allows.
Yes. Customs and quarantine treat an empty repositioning leg like any arrival, so leftover stock may be removed at the door. For that reason it is simpler to order at WAMM, and if you ask whether you can bring food from abroad, the answer is that it is possible but often held.
You can, but a long leg with two services strains a small galley: one oven, one drawer, and no room for what you carried in. We cook and pack for the galley you actually have, so the second service is not improvised at altitude.
No. Catering is not part of a charter into WAMM: the aircraft is one contract, the food is a separate order invoiced on its own. A passenger count that moves late is normal, and we adjust trays up to the slot.
Tail, pax and diets — a flight attendant takes it from there, day or night.
