Catering to your aircraft in Vila Franca de Xira.
Alverca Air Base is flat river country, and the food leaves a kitchen built for it: fish, bread and fruit packed for your galley and delivered to the aircraft at LPAR.
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.
Lisbon District gives the private jet menu at Alverca its backbone: grilled fish, the sweet pastry tradition of the capital area, and fruit that travels well. A private jet menu built here leans on what the Atlantic and the Tagus provide, so the inflight menu can name real local specialities rather than generic plates. Private jet food from Vila Franca de Xira has its own habits: bacalhau in several forms, grilled sardines in season, cured sausages and cheeses from the Ribatejo side of the river, and pastel de nata, which must be baked fresh and re-plated cold or warmed in the oven according to the aircraft. Private jet platters carry the cold items, gourmet inflight meals carry the cooked ones, and private jet snacks cover the short leg when nobody wants a full service. We keep each dish honest about how it voyages: what survives a drawer, what needs the oven, what travels with the sauce apart. Local specialities from Lisbon District work best when the brief names the season and the headcount.
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.
Low ground, river air and a military apron: that is Alverca Air Base. Private jet catering here starts with the aircraft type and the slot, then the menu. We handle inflight catering and in-flight catering for charters, business aviation catering for corporate flight departments, and aviation catering for state movements, including diplomatic flight catering and executive jet catering. Cabin crew meals at Alverca are a separate line you ask for when you book the trip, invoiced like any other order.
Who flies into Alverca? Corporate teams, charter passengers and the occasional delegation, mostly on light and midsize jets. For business jet catering and corporate jet catering we ask what the galley holds before we name a dish. VIP flight catering, charter flight catering and luxury inflight catering come from the same short brief. Our private jet chef drafts a bespoke menu once we know the seat plan.
Because Alverca is an air base, official movements here are routine. For government flight catering and head of state flight catering, the order is confirmed through the protocol office, then cooked by a named team. VIP aviation catering and state visit aircraft catering are labelled by seat, sealed, and delivered through the handling agent.
At Alverca the Portuguese kitchen puts the risks in plain sight: fish and shellfish are everywhere, and bacalhau, egg custards and nuts turn up in dishes that look innocent. Special meals here follow a procedure: kosher, halal, vegan and gluten free requests are confirmed against the local products, sealed and labelled by seat. Allergen free plates are cooked on a separate board and travel in a separate box, and kids meals are adapted to simple portions the crew can serve in a moment. Tell us the restriction and the seat, and the plate is built around it.
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 flight deck at LPAR does not stop for lunch. Crew meals are an order of their own, on request: flight crew meals for the cabin, pilot meals for the cockpit. Crew catering arrives as crew meal boxes, cockpit meals stay compact, and different meals for pilots are packed separately, marked CREW and billed as part of the same trip.
At Alverca the handover happens through the FBO or your handling agent, and we coordinate FBO catering to the aircraft. Catering delivery to the FBO or the general aviation terminal depends on airside access, so ground handling catering and handling agent catering are arranged around the access rules of a working air base.
At Alverca, the tail you fly in sets the loading plan for the galley, from the door used to the cart that fits. A light jet takes the order through the main door, while a larger cabin may need a high loader and airside catering delivery coordinated with the handling agent. Galley catering depends on what the aircraft carries: one oven, a drawer and a chiller, or a full galley. Aircraft provisioning on a military-run field also depends on access, so we agree the airside route and the door in advance.
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.
Alverca Air Base serves Portugal's aviation community from the Tagus estuary, in Vila Franca de Xira. For airport catering, general aviation traffic and FBO services, it is a low, flat site with a defined apron and a handling agent controlling access. Ground handling services here follow air base routines.
Alverca is a small business aviation hub for the Lisbon area. Inflight catering and in-flight catering here suit light jets and executive jet catering on short regional legs, while aviation catering and business aviation catering follow charter demand. Diplomatic flight catering takes a discreet route, and cabin crew meals are ordered on request with the trip.
Customs in Portugal apply EU rules on animal products. A leg staying inside the EU takes presunto and cheese without trouble; anything arriving from outside needs checking. We read the route and tell you what to leave off.
Average rating from the cabin crew and pilots we cater for.
“The cabin briefing at Alverca Air Base included 6 passenger meals, a request for a seafood starter and warm vegetable sides, and instructions addressing a short ground stop. When comparing aviation catering companies, I would look closely at written menu details after this experience. The Galley Girls used a readable packing list for the side dishes, which helped when two colleagues checked the order together. The sauces were also listed clearly, which made it easier to pass instructions between crew members during preparation.”
“Passenger preferences led us to a selection of petits fours and sandwiches at LPAR; 4 portions were needed, with a small galley worktop factored into preparation. We discussed the dimensions before confirming; The Galley Girls grouped the side dishes into individual containers that were easy to handle. Separating the sauces from the first service items helped us avoid opening boxes we did not yet need. For our team, the strongest part of their flight catering was how they handled storage requirements.”
“Choosing beef fillet with roasted potatoes for 11 people at Alverca Air Base was straightforward; the challenge was making it work with several individual meal preferences. The snack boxes from The Galley Girls were organised around the cabin plan, with the later service items kept apart. We left the starters stored until needed, which kept the first service manageable and reduced unnecessary handling. The order made flight catering services feel manageable because the portion planning had been considered beforehand.”
We quote from the menu, and a long leg gives us two chances to get it right. Bacalhau and grilled fish take more work than platters and snacks; the second service on board is what usually drives the final number for private jet catering at Alverca.
Lead time here follows the request: a vegan plate is simple, a sealed kosher meal needs more care, and an allergen free tray needs its own board. Send the restriction with the flight and we plan around it; late changes are still handled.
If a product might be held at arrival, we say so. Cured pork, fresh fruit and dairy are the usual ones; our habit is to propose a substitute from the same Lisbon District table rather than send a dish that cannot land.
Yes, within customs rules. The caution at LPAR is timing: if a fog bank or wind delays the slot, a fresh tray you carried may no longer suit service. We pack a reserve platter and snacks so the cabin is covered either way.
No: food is outside a private jet charter and is handled as a standalone order. At this field the handling agent opens the way to the apron, and we plan the handover around their access rules.
Tail, pax and diets — a flight attendant takes it from there, day or night.
