Catering to your aircraft in Pantelleria (TP).
Pantelleria's strip is short, windy and busy mainly in summer, and the flights that land here carry guests who expect the island on the plate. We pack capers, ricotta and passito for the galley, and the crew serves it as it comes.
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.
Pantelleria belongs to Sicily, but its pantry is its own: salted capers with the Pantelleria PGI, Zibibbo grapes dried into passito, tomatoes grown on black volcanic soil, ricotta and the island's dry-stone terraces. A private jet menu built here leans on those products. The inflight menu for a four-seat light jet is mostly cold and firm; the private jet food that travels best is the one that does not need a kitchen at altitude.
The local specialities of Pantelleria are small and strongly seasoned, which suits a galley. Pantelleria pesto, made with almonds, tomato and capers, travels in a pot of its own. Couscous, a trace of North Africa on this island, holds its shape for a long leg. Private jet platters, gourmet inflight meals and private jet snacks all start from that pantry, written for Sicily's smallest working airport.
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.
A 628-foot hilltop strip in the Strait of Sicily, Pantelleria is where the capers, the passito and the volcanic-soil tomatoes decide the menu. Private jet catering here is packed for a small galley and handed over through your handling agent. Inflight catering for a summer arrival is built around cold plates, and in-flight catering for the way out is finished in the oven aboard. Aviation catering, business aviation catering and executive jet catering all follow the same rule: sealed, labelled by seat. Diplomatic flight catering is cleared by protocol first, and cabin crew meals are boxed apart.
A corporate jet on Pantelleria rarely needs more than a light, well-built lunch, and that is what business jet catering looks like here. Corporate jet catering and VIP flight catering share one logic: the Pantelleria pantry, sealed and labelled. Charter flight catering for a weekend on the island is cold-heavy, luxury inflight catering adds a hot fish dish, and a private jet chef shapes a bespoke menu for the guest list.
A ministerial or state arrival on Pantelleria asks for discretion more than volume. Government flight catering here is built with a named team, head of state flight catering is cleared by protocol before anything is cooked, and VIP aviation catering for state visit aircraft catering is delivered sealed to the apron.
On Pantelleria, where the pantry is capers, almonds, fish and pasta, the allergens hide in a short list: nuts in the pesto, gluten in the couscous and pasta, shellfish in the fish stock. Kosher, halal, vegan, gluten free, allergen free and kids meals are therefore written as special meals with their own board, their own sealed box and a seat number, not as a modified version of the island menu.
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.
On a Pantelleria turnaround the crew often eats standing, so crew meals are boxed to be eaten one-handed. Flight crew meals, pilot meals and cockpit meals are ordered on request and billed with the order; crew meal boxes carry a seat or role number, and different meals for pilots are packed in separate boxes. Crew catering at LICG is built to be opened in a jumpseat, and cabin crew meals are labelled CREW.
At Pantelleria the FBO and the general aviation terminal sit close to the apron, so FBO catering is a short handover to your crew. Catering delivery to the FBO is agreed with the handling agent, ground handling catering covers the airside access, and handling agent catering is confirmed with the tail and the slot.
Pantelleria's apron is small and the aircraft that use it are mostly light and midsize jets, so the galley catering that arrives is sized to match: a few trays, a cooler, nothing that needs a high loader. Where a larger aircraft comes in, airside catering delivery and aircraft provisioning are agreed with the handling agent before the slot, with the door height and the galley layout confirmed for that tail.
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.
Pantelleria Airport is a small commercial and general aviation airfield on a volcanic island in the Strait of Sicily, at 628 feet. Airport catering here follows the island's rhythm: more traffic in summer, fewer deliveries in winter, and a handling agent who coordinates the apron.
Business aviation at Pantelleria is summer-heavy and leisure-led. Inflight catering and in-flight catering for a private arrival are mostly cold, aviation catering for a weekend party is boxed by seat, and business aviation catering for owners' flights uses the island pantry. Executive jet catering and diplomatic flight catering are rare but handled quietly, and cabin crew meals are ordered separately. General aviation, FBO services and ground handling services all pass through one handling agent; the field is a small business aviation hub, in season.
Pantelleria is in Italy and the EU, so customs on food depend on the next destination. Departures outside the EU mean declared provisions, and animal products are the first to be queried; your handling agent confirms the rule before the slot.
Average rating from the cabin crew and pilots we cater for.
“Menu approval at PNL covered a charcuterie board and fresh bread for 12 guests, leaving us to organise the service around a tight boarding window. I asked The Galley Girls to review the fruit plates quantities against the passenger brief, and the proposed portions made sense. We also checked the desserts before approval, which helped avoid a second round of questions later in the preparation. I appreciated the emphasis on catering handover throughout the private jet catering menu arrangements.”
“Good preparation made the difference at Pantelleria Airport, where 5 guests expected a seafood starter and warm vegetable sides despite a small galley worktop. The Galley Girls kept the crew provisions separate from the finishing elements, which gave us control over the final presentation. I appreciated the emphasis on cabin service sequence throughout the private aviation catering arrangements. The starters stayed together in one group, so another crew member could follow the same plating sequence.”
“I wanted a charcuterie board and fresh bread for 5 guests at LICG, packed sensibly for a cabin team dealing with a tight boarding window. The catering handover stood out more than any sales pitch about business jet catering. Our handling contact received the order details from The Galley Girls, including how the salads had been grouped. We could account for the breakfast portions before passing the boxes to the cabin team, without a lengthy unpacking exercise.”
Passenger numbers that shift late are handled by changing the order, not the standard. The cost follows what you select, from a simple caper and ricotta board to a full hot meal with dessert, and the last-minute order is treated like any other.
Lead time at LICG depends less on a count of hours than on the product: fresh fish and tomatoes are easier when planned, and last-minute orders are handled. A return leg ordered from the island is packed with the same label system.
On a short turnaround the safest answer on customs is to prepare early: an ingredient list, sealed trays, a handover at the aircraft. Pantelleria is a small airport, and the process is easier when everything is ready before the slot.
Passengers sometimes arrive with capers, wine or cheese from the island; bringing food is allowed in principle, subject to the destination. Our packing keeps service one and service two separate so nothing is mixed.
A charter covers the aircraft; food is ordered and billed separately. On Pantelleria, in the windy shoulder months, we keep the order flexible so a late departure does not spoil the plates.
Tail, pax and diets — a flight attendant takes it from there, day or night.
