Catering to your aircraft in Funchal.
Landing at Funchal means a hand-flown approach and a tight apron. Your catering arrives at the aircraft, packed for the galley you have, with Madeira produce on the tray.
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.
Madeira's table is short and strong, and almost all of it travels well in a galley. A private jet menu at Funchal can lean on espada, the black scabbard fish, served with banana and passion fruit sauce: the sauce goes apart, the fish is finished in the cabin oven. Bolo do caco, the round griddle bread with garlic butter, is the obvious inflight menu starter, and we pack the butter separately so the bread stays crisp. Local specialities like lapas, grilled limpets, and espetada, beef skewers on bay laurel, make good private jet food for a longer sector when the passengers want something from the island rather than a generic tray. For the cold side we build private jet platters of tropical fruit from the Autonomous Region of Madeira, cured meats and local cheese. Those gourmet inflight meals are plated for re-plating, with private jet snacks such as pastéis and candied fruit kept in sealed boxes. Funchal is often a quick leg, so we keep portions flexible to the number of seats.
Start with what Madeira grows. Bananas, passion fruit, custard apple, mango in season: the private jet menu from Funchal often opens with a fruit board and ends with queijada or honey cake, because the island's honey cane is a real product, not a decoration. Mains follow the sea. Espada with banana, tuna steak with milho frito, and bacalhau for passengers who ask for the mainland dish. Espetada works as private jet food when the oven is available, otherwise we send it cold and sliced. Local specialities in the Autonomous Region of Madeira rarely need exotic ingredients, which keeps the inflight menu simple to pack and to re-plate. Private jet platters, gourmet inflight meals and private jet snacks all follow the same rule: nothing that needs a kitchen the aircraft does not have.
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.
Funchal's runway runs out over the Atlantic on concrete columns, and the crews who use it know the approach is flown by hand and the turnaround is planned around the wind. Private jet catering at Cristiano Ronaldo International (LPMA / FNC) is built the same way: packed for the galley you actually have, labelled for the person who opens the drawer, and handed over at the FBO or to your handling agent. Our team of former VIP flight attendants writes the order around Madeira produce, whether it is inflight catering for a short hop to Lisbon or in-flight catering for a transatlantic leg. We also place aviation catering and business aviation catering where the trip needs it, with executive jet catering, diplomatic flight catering and cabin crew meals ordered on the same sheet.
At LPMA, business jet catering is mostly about what survives the sector. Corporate jet catering uses local fish, bananas and bread, VIP flight catering plates them for the cabin, and charter flight catering follows the operator's menu. A private jet chef can build a bespoke menu and luxury inflight catering with dessert, packed for oven and drawer.
When an official flight lands at LPMA, the menu is cleared by the protocol office first. Government flight catering and head of state flight catering are cooked by a named team, VIP aviation catering is sealed and labelled, and state visit aircraft catering is handed over to the handling agent without fuss.
Madeira cooking is built on fish, banana, maize and garlic, so the allergen question here is mostly about shellfish, fish stock and nuts in desserts. Kosher, halal, vegan, gluten free and allergen free meals are packed on a separate board in a sealed box, labelled by seat number, and fruit and vegetable plates are the easy base for most special meals. Kids meals follow the same route: milho frito, plain fish or pasta, fruit.
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 request, crew meals at LPMA are packed in boxes marked CREW and invoiced like any order. Flight crew meals follow the rotation, pilot meals stay simple and one-handed, and crew catering for a long wait on the apron can be hot. Cockpit meals and crew meal boxes are kept apart from the guest trays, and different meals for pilots are sent when policy requires.
At Funchal, the general aviation terminal and the FBO receive the order, and handling agent catering passes it to the aircraft. FBO catering and ground handling catering are planned around the apron's access rules, and catering delivery to the FBO is confirmed with your handling agent before the slot.
Whether a catering high loader is needed at Cristiano Ronaldo International depends on the aircraft: a Challenger or a Gulfstream is usually served from a van with a lift at the airside door, while a larger bizliner needs the high loader to reach the galley door. We confirm the type, the door and the galley layout before the order is written. Galley catering and aircraft provisioning are packed to the oven and the drawers on board, and airside catering delivery follows the handling agent's apron rules.
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.
Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport serves Funchal and the Autonomous Region of Madeira, with a runway built partly on columns above the sea. The airport catering is simple, the general aviation apron is compact, and FBO services and ground handling services are organised around the wind and the slots. It is a business aviation hub for the island.
Inflight catering and in-flight catering at Funchal are planned for the weather as much as for the seat count. Aviation catering and business aviation catering suit corporate and charter trips, executive jet catering for owner-flown aircraft, and diplomatic flight catering for delegations. Cabin crew meals are ordered on the same sheet, so the galley is stocked once.
At Cristiano Ronaldo International, EU import rules apply to anything brought on board, with limits on meat, dairy and fresh plants from outside the Union. Our practice is to source in Madeira, seal the trays and give the handling agent a clear list, so the order passes the apron without questions.
Average rating from the cabin crew and pilots we cater for.
“Keeping the galley organised at FNC meant planning a cold lunch with cheese and fruit for 2 guests with a short ground stop in mind. The order made private jet food feel manageable because the storage requirements had been considered beforehand. Instead of asking us to improvise, The Galley Girls explained how the sandwiches could be arranged during service. It made a difference to have the snack boxes ready without cluttering the galley work area during preparation.”
“Packing mushroom risotto and a green salad for 4 passengers at Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport needed careful thought, especially given a short ground stop. The desserts came from The Galley Girls in divided catering boxes, with a packing list that matched the contents. The breakfast portions were easy to locate, leaving the crew free to focus on the remaining cabin preparation. Our brief for private jet meals was met with a sensible plan for cabin service sequence.”
“The 10 passenger portions of vegetable tartlets and a dessert selection were the easy part; managing a small galley worktop at LPMA took more planning. The Galley Girls understood why we wanted the starters readily accessible instead of spread across several different boxes. That left time to check the desserts properly before the passengers were ready for the next part of the service. The catering handover stood out more than any sales pitch about private jet menu.”
Passion fruit sauce, banana, black scabbard fish: the cost of private jet catering at Funchal goes up with each plated item and with passenger count, and down when you accept a cold menu. Customs are the other variable, because EU import rules limit meat and dairy, so we buy on the island. We price per order, never a flat tariff.
With a return from Madeira, lead time depends on the products rather than on the clock. Bolo do caco and fruit are available on the island all year, while some fish is seasonal. Order both legs together, and if the return is added later, we handle last-minute orders by phone or email.
A repositioning flight with an empty cabin still falls under Portuguese customs and EU food rules: leftover meat, dairy and fruit from outside the EU can be seized and the handling agent will ask for what is on board. If you land at LPMA empty, order only what the crew will eat, and we pack crew meals so nothing animal-based has to be declared as passenger catering.
For a diplomatic or delegation flight into Madeira, you can carry your own food, but we recommend a traceable local order: a menu approved by protocol, a named team, sealed trays. It removes the customs question and keeps the aircraft clear of anything that might be held on the apron.
No. A private jet charter contract covers the aircraft and its crew, while meals are ordered on top and invoiced as a separate line. For Funchal the useful detail is the departure slot: a long or short turnaround changes what we pack and when the handling agent can open the door.
Tail, pax and diets — a flight attendant takes it from there, day or night.
