Catering to your aircraft in Rijen.
EHGR is a long runway and little else around it, so the order here is simple: Dutch food, cooked for your galley, handed over by your handling agent 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.
Noord-Brabant sits between Breda and Tilburg, and the table here is plain and good: worstenbroodjes, Brabant sausage rolls, are the local signature, and the private jet menu for Rijen leans on them. A private jet menu built around Brabant keeps it simple. Inflight menu choices include asparagus when the Dutch season is on, Hollandse nieuwe herring in early summer, and dairy from the Dutch farms. Private jet food at EHGR reads as honest Dutch cooking. Local specialities such as bitterballen travel well from the oven and arrive crisp. Private jet platters of Dutch cheese, cured meats and rye bread suit a short Rijen stop. Gourmet inflight meals can lean on Brabant beef or North Sea fish, with the sauce in its own pot. Private jet snacks are stroopwafels and nuts. Noord-Brabant produce changes with the weather, so we write the menu around what is good that week.
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.
Flat polder, a long runway and an air base apron: that is Rijen. Private jet catering here starts from what your galley can actually do, then moves to the plate. Inflight catering and in-flight catering are cooked and packed for the aircraft, aviation catering and business aviation catering stay clean and labelled, executive jet catering is written around your passenger list, and diplomatic flight catering is cleared with your handler. Cabin crew meals ride in their own boxes.
Business jet catering at Gilze Rijen usually serves a small party that wants a calm departure from an air base: corporate jet catering with a short, clean menu, VIP flight catering for the principal, and charter flight catering written around the seat plan. Luxury inflight catering here can include a private jet chef's bespoke menu built on Brabant produce.
Gilze Rijen is a military field, so government flight catering is familiar territory: a menu cleared before cooking, trays labelled for each seat, and a named team. Head of state flight catering and VIP aviation catering are handled with discretion. State visit aircraft catering is traced from kitchen to door.
At a Dutch air base, the local cooking hides allergens in ordinary places: butter in the roux, mustard in the bitterballen, gluten in the breadcrumb, shellfish stock in the fish dishes. Kosher, halal, vegan and gluten free orders are cooked on a separate board and boxed apart. Special meals, allergen free dishes and kids meals are marked by seat number, so nobody opens the wrong tray.
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 EHGR the crew often waits on an air base apron, so crew meals are worth ordering with the flight. Flight crew meals, pilot meals and cockpit meals can be boxed hot or cold; crew catering is requested and billed like any other line. Crew meal boxes carry CREW on the lid, and different meals for pilots are packed apart. Cabin crew meals ride in their own boxes, labelled CREW, so the cabin team can eat between legs without touching a passenger tray.
At Gilze Rijen the food is handed over by the FBO or your handling agent, who control airside access on this air base. FBO catering is agreed in advance; catering delivery to the FBO or straight to the aircraft follows the field rules. The general aviation terminal, where one is used, is the meeting point. Ground handling catering and handling agent catering are coordinated by one email.
Gilze Rijen is an air base, so the aircraft that reach it range from light jets to larger types, and the loading depends on the door and the sill height. We confirm with your handling agent whether a high loader is on the apron or whether the galley is reached by hand. Galley catering is packed for the trolleys and ovens you actually have. Airside catering delivery follows the access rules of the field, and aircraft provisioning is agreed before the slot.
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.
EHGR is a Dutch air base rather than a commercial airport, and its apron reflects that: tidy, controlled and quiet. For private flights, airport catering is a matter of access and paperwork. General aviation traffic is occasional, FBO services are limited to what the handler arranges, and ground handling services decide who may drive onto the apron.
As a business aviation hub Gilze Rijen is modest: occasional visits by corporate and executive jets, with inflight catering and in-flight catering ordered to suit a short stay. Aviation catering and business aviation catering are written for the galley, and ground handling services meet the aircraft at the stand. Executive jet catering suits a small party, diplomatic flight catering suits official visits, and cabin crew meals and crew meals complete the order.
Dutch customs follow EU rules: meat, dairy and eggs arriving from outside the EU are restricted, and an air base adds its own access checks. Declare what you carry with the handling agent, who runs the ground handling services on this field. Food we cook locally for departure raises no import question.
Average rating from the cabin crew and pilots we cater for.
“Small packing details became important at EHGR: our 10 passengers wanted a mezze selection with flatbreads, and we had limited fridge space. We changed the quantities of sauces, and The Galley Girls reflected the request in the final packing list. There was no need to reconstruct the desserts quantities from several messages during the final departure checks. My main takeaway from this in-flight catering services order was the practical approach to cabin service sequence.”
“It was the packing plan I cared about at GLZ, with 7 servings of mini sandwiches and individual desserts and different crew meal preferences to consider. The breakfast portions from The Galley Girls were organised around the cabin plan, with the later service items kept apart. Our brief for aviation catering was met with a sensible plan for meal organisation. We left the crew provisions stored until needed, which kept the first service manageable and reduced unnecessary handling.”
“Several practical details needed attention at Gilze Rijen Air Base, with roasted chicken and seasonal vegetables requested for 10 guests and a tight boarding window to accommodate. For aviation catering services, that attention to catering handover made the order noticeably easier to manage. The Galley Girls suggested sealed meal containers for the fruit plates, and that choice worked well with our storage arrangement. I could hand the side dishes to a colleague with a short explanation instead of unpacking the whole order.”
Price is built from the plan, not from a rate card: a government party into EHGR might want asparagus, sole and a cheese board, each priced separately. The more restrictions and covers, the longer the line. You get the numbers once the head count is known.
Short notice is normal in private aviation, and lead time at Gilze Rijen mostly depends on access and season. Asparagus can be scarce out of season, but bread, cheese and cold fish are not. Call or email and we will adjust the pack.
The rule of thumb for a long leg is to bring less in and cook fresh at Rijen. Dutch customs follow EU animal-product rules, so an arriving jet with leftover trays should ask the handler before anything leaves the aircraft. Fresh meals loaded here avoid the question.
Yes, you can bring food, though customs rules apply to meat, dairy and eggs. For an empty cabin into EHGR, most operators skip passenger catering and order only boxed crew meals, which are simple to hand over.
Catering stays outside the charter and is billed on its own. For Gilze Rijen, tell your handler we are delivering, and give us the tail and slot. They manage airside access; we manage the food.
Tail, pax and diets — a flight attendant takes it from there, day or night.
