Catering to your aircraft in Charleston.
Charleston International runs on a mixed ramp: Air Force traffic, airliners, and a general aviation apron that fills on race and Spoleto weekends. We cook Lowcountry meals for your galley and the crew who serve them.
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.
Charleston sits in the South Carolina Lowcountry, and a private jet menu built here borrows from the marsh and the harbour: shrimp and grits, she-crab soup, Carolina Gold rice, benne seed wafers, pimento cheese, peach cobbler in season. Our local specialities travel in galley-friendly formats, so the inflight menu keeps its character from the FBO to the aircraft.
Private jet food in South Carolina starts with what the Lowcountry grows and catches: Carolina Gold rice, Edisto tomatoes in summer, local shrimp, oysters in the cooler months, a low-country boil adapted into a boxed service. These local specialities in Charleston are packed hot or chilled, labelled for the galley you actually fly.
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.
Between the live oaks of the Lowcountry and the hangars on the east side of the field, KCHS sees a steady stream of business aviation catering requests tied to the Charleston golf calendar and Boeing's local plant. Private jet catering for Charleston starts with what the galley holds: executive jet catering for a midsize cabin, diplomatic flight catering when a delegation lands, cabin crew meals packed in their own box.
A typical Charleston brief is a corporate or charter flight from the golf or Boeing calendar. Business jet catering and corporate jet catering here start with the cabin: VIP flight catering and charter flight catering for four to eight, luxury inflight catering with a private jet chef writing a bespoke menu around what your galley can finish.
A state visit or a delegation landing at Charleston asks for discretion before flavour. Government flight catering and head of state flight catering are cleared by protocol; VIP aviation catering and state visit aircraft catering use named staff and traceable ingredients.
At Charleston, the local kitchen leans on shellfish, pork and peanuts, so allergen routing is the first conversation, and kosher, halal, vegan, gluten free, allergen free, kids meals and other special meals each get their own board, tray and sealed box marked by seat number.
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 crew on a Charleston turn eat last and fast. Crew meals are ordered with the flight; flight crew meals and pilot meals go in separate crew meal boxes, crew catering stays distinct from the cabin, cockpit meals are one-hand food, and different meals for pilots are available on request.
At KCHS, FBO catering means a handover at the stair, not a drop at the desk. Catering delivery to the FBO goes through the general aviation terminal, ground handling catering follows ramp access, and handling agent catering is agreed in advance.
Larger cabins on the Charleston ramp need galley catering planned around the aircraft type: a high loader for the bigger business jets, a hand-carried service for light jets. Airside catering delivery follows the FBO's ramp access, and aircraft provisioning is confirmed with your handling agent before the vehicle comes onto the apron.
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.
Charleston International is the state's busiest airport, shared between commercial and military use, with a general aviation terminal that handles a steady flow of corporate and charter traffic. Airport catering here is shaped by that mix.
Charleston is a business aviation hub in a small way: general aviation traffic follows the golf, the plant and the harbour. Inflight catering, in-flight catering and aviation catering are packed to the aircraft; business aviation catering and executive jet catering suit the midsize cabins, diplomatic flight catering covers delegations, and cabin crew meals are boxed separately. FBO services and ground handling services are coordinated on the ramp.
Flights arriving from abroad at Charleston are inspected by US customs and agricultural officers, who look for fresh produce, meat and dairy. We plan the menu so nothing restricted is left in the galley.
Average rating from the cabin crew and pilots we cater for.
“Rather than an elaborate service at Charleston International Airport, our 7 guests wanted smoked salmon bagels and sliced fruit, organised sensibly around limited fridge space. The crew provisions 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. Our brief for aviation catering was met with a sensible plan for final order confirmation.”
“Nothing about the 2 guest order at KCHS called for excess complexity: just yoghurt pots and fresh berries and sensible planning for a revised passenger count. I needed the breakfast portions checked against the revised brief; The Galley Girls answered without sending us through another lengthy exchange. We checked the starters against the same summary, keeping the cabin team and the handling contact aligned. The order made aviation catering services feel manageable because the written menu details had been considered beforehand.”
“Menu approval at CHS covered a charcuterie board and fresh bread for 10 guests, leaving us to organise the service around an evening cabin service. Instead of asking us to improvise, The Galley Girls explained how the salads could be arranged during service. I want an aviation catering company to understand catering handover, and this order gave us a useful starting point. We could finish the canapés as each guest was ready, rather than laying everything out at once.”
Think of a long leg out of CHS where the passengers eat twice: a shrimp supper, then breakfast before landing. How much does private jet catering cost for that? The menu sets it, not a rate card, and we confirm before anything is cooked.
The headcount often changes at Charleston, especially around golf and regatta weekends. Lead time stays workable because we cook to the final count; last-minute orders are handled, and the menu is adjusted by seat.
Government flights into South Carolina follow federal import rules for food. We source locally, pack to protocol, and avoid anything that would be seized at the ramp; the protocol office signs off before cooking. Customs officers here look hardest at fresh produce, meat and dairy.
Bringing food on board is possible; relying on it for a special diet is another matter. A sealed, seat-numbered kosher or allergen-free meal is easier for crew to serve and to trust, especially with shellfish so common in Charleston. Can you bring food? Yes, but a sealed box beats a loose bag.
No. Is catering part of a charter? Here it is not: the charter covers the aircraft, and food is a separate order. When crew duty time stretches and the aircraft waits on the ground at Charleston, the pilots still need a meal; we provide those crew meals on request, billed like any order.
Tail, pax and diets — a flight attendant takes it from there, day or night.
