Ithaca Tompkins Regional · KITH / ITH · United States

Private jet catering at Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport (KITH / ITH), Ithaca

Catering to your aircraft in Ithaca.

Ithaca sits at 1,099 feet above a lake that makes its own weather, and a commencement weekend can fill the ramp in a single morning. We cook, pack and label for the galley you have, and hand it over at the FBO.

Menu & order Download the menu

10 hours

ideal notice, last-minute handled

Plane-side

handover at the steps

Flight deck

crew and pilot dishes, on request

24/7

a flight attendant on the line

Three of us. All ex VIP cabin crew.

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.

Camille

Menu & galley logistics

Fourteen years on VIP and head-of-state cabins. Can plate for twelve in a G650 galley and still land it hot.

Inès

Dietary & labelling

The one who reads every diet card twice. If it says no cross-contact, it means no cross-contact.

Sofia

The 24/7 line

Answers at 5 a.m. when the leg moved overnight. Same-day swaps are her love language.

The local tableCooked so it travels

Local specialities from Ithaca for your inflight catering

The Finger Lakes are the point of reference here: cool-climate wine country, orchards, dairy farms and a market culture that Ithaca takes seriously. A private jet menu for Ithaca draws on that without turning into a postcard. Local specialities travel differently depending on the dish. Apples and cider doughnuts are a fall item that holds well cold. Finger Lakes cheeses go on a separate board so they can sit at room temperature. Upstate maple goes into a glaze or a dressing, in its own pot. Riesling country means the wine question comes up early on any inflight menu, and we pack glassware instructions rather than glass.

Private jet food from this region is mostly cold-friendly: farm cheeses, smoked trout from the lakes, charcuterie, heirloom tomatoes in August, squash soup in October. In deep winter the menu moves to braises and roasted roots that reheat cleanly in a small oven. Local specialities are only offered when the season supports them, and we say so in the order rather than substituting quietly. New York is the region on the label, and Ithaca is the market the produce comes from.

Open the menu Download the menuPDF

Finger Lakes cheese board and smoked trout, local specialities packed for a private jet menu from Ithaca

01Finger Lakes cheese boardServed at room temperature, packed apart from the hot dishes

02Smoked lake trout with apple slawCold, slaw dressed on board, one portion per seat

03Maple-glazed duck breastReheated in the aircraft oven, glaze carried in its own pot

04Cider-braised pork shoulderSealed hot, reheat time written on the lid

05Roasted squash soupCarried in a thermal container, poured at the table

06Cider doughnuts and apple tartFall item, packed flat so nothing slides in the drawer

How it works

Three steps, one message

You message us

Tail, pax, diets, timing. One message — no portal, no quote form. Answered at any hour, by a flight attendant.

We cook & pack for a galley

Leak-proof boxes, marked by guest and restriction, with reheating times written on the lid.

You re-plate and serve

Two minutes out of the drawer. Whatever you ordered for the crew comes in the same delivery, and one clean invoice follows.

At a glance · IthacaIthaca Tompkins Regional Airport · KITH

The three founders, former VIP cabin crew, on a business jet airstair — private jet catering at Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport (KITH)

Lake effect snow decides more departures from KITH than any schedule does, so the order is built to survive a long wait on the ramp. Our private jet catering for Ithaca keeps hot dishes sealed and cold plates stable, whatever the delay. Business aviation catering and inflight catering are planned with the weather window in mind, in-flight catering is labelled for re-plating, aviation catering travels under one name, and executive jet catering, diplomatic flight catering and cabin crew meals each keep their own boxes.

Restaurant cuisine, cooked on the ground
Fresh and local produce
Labelled by seat, diet and reheat
Aviation-ready packaging
High loader for large cabins
HACCP certified kitchens

Who we fly forTwo cabins, one standard

Business jet at KITH with catering boxes beside the cabin door, Ithaca, New York

Business aviationOur core

Business jet & VIP jet catering at Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport

Most business flights into Ithaca carry a small group: a trustee, a recruiting party, a family arriving for a Cornell weekend, a team heading to a research visit. The aircraft is usually a light or midsize jet, so the galley is a drawer and a small oven at best, and the menu has to be written for that. Business jet catering here means plates that are finished in two minutes, with the sauce in its own pot. Corporate jet catering for a faculty or board trip leans on a quiet table, a cold lunch and a hot main labelled with reheat times. VIP flight catering is the same discipline with tighter detail on who sits where. For a charter flight catering order the brief arrives with the tail, the slot and the seat plan. Luxury inflight catering at this size is restraint: three dishes done properly rather than seven done loosely. A private jet chef can write a bespoke menu around Finger Lakes produce when the passengers are alumni who will notice the origin. Private jet charter customers booking from Ithaca ask first about the return leg, which is why we plan it with the outbound.

Sealed catering boxes for a government flight arranged at Ithaca Tompkins Regional, FBO catering handover

State & royalDiscretion, protocol

State visit and VIP aviation catering at Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport

Government flight catering into Ithaca is occasional and usually tied to the university or to state business in Tompkins County. Head of state flight catering and state visit aircraft catering are handled through the protocol contact of the delegation, not through the passengers: the menu is cleared first, the allergen file is built, and the named team that packs it is the team that hands it over. VIP aviation catering at a small field means discretion on the ramp, sealed boxes and labels that carry seat numbers only. We write nothing on the paperwork that the delegation has not approved.

The *Ithaca* inflight catering menu (ITH)Or write your own, we cook it

Cold private jet platters of cheese and cured meats prepared for Ithaca Tompkins Regional

Cold galley

No oven · served in four minutes

Private jet platters of Finger Lakes cheese, cured meats and pickled vegetablesCold, cut per guest, board packed apart

Smoked trout with apple and fennel slawCold, dressed on board

Gourmet inflight meals: chilled chicken salad with maple vinaigretteCold lunch, waits in the drawer

Private jet snacks: roasted nuts, dried apple, dark chocolateDry, stays in the seat pocket

Hot maple duck and roasted squash sealed for reheating, inflight menu for KITH Ithaca

Hot service

One oven · re-plated in twelve minutes

Maple-glazed duck breast with roasted squashHot, oven reheat, glaze apart

Cider-braised pork shoulder with potato puréeHot, sealed, reheat time on the lid

Wild mushroom risottoHot, finished on board with stock

Roasted squash soupHot, thermal container

Make a request Download the menuPDF

A dish sealed and labelled for one guest's diet

PrincipalSealed

Nut-free · gluten-freeChecked by two people

Special meals

Special meals & dietary requirements: in-flight catering at Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport

Special meals at KITH are built as a procedure around the local kitchen: dairy and nuts turn up in cheese boards, cider glazes and baked goods, so allergen free dishes are cooked and boxed apart from them. Kosher, halal, vegan and gluten free orders are written on a card per seat. Kids meals are planned with the family on board for a Cornell weekend, and a vegan menu is built from local produce when the season allows.

Allergens

A sheet per guest. Separate boards, separate boxes.

ii.

Halal & kosher

Sealed, certificate in the same box.

iii.

Children

Their own menu, nothing to cut at altitude.

iv.

Plant-based & wellness

Vegan, low-carb, light — composed, never compromised.

Crew & pilot mealsOn request

Crew meals & pilot meals at Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport

Pilots on an Ithaca turn often wait out a lake-effect delay on the ramp, so crew meals are ordered with the trip and packed to be eaten from a cockpit shelf. They are on request, listed and invoiced like the rest of the order. Flight crew meals can be hot or cold, boxed with the seat label CREW. Pilot meals and cockpit meals are written as two separate dishes when the operator asks for it, so different meals for pilots are planned from the start rather than swapped at the door. Crew meal boxes carry utensils and napkins, and crew catering is kept short and quick to eat, nothing that needs a table.

Meal passKITH

Cabin crew

Box

Marked crew

Galley

Oven 6 min

Order

On request

Marked crew

Meal passKITH

Pilots

Box

CPT ≠ F/O

Galley

Cold or hot

Order

On request

Two dishes

General aviation apron at Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport (KITH / ITH), New York

To the steps, on your slot.

Airside · plane-side · day or night

DeliveryEvery FBO

FBO catering and handling agent delivery at Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport

Delivery on this field goes through the FBO and the handling agent at the general aviation terminal. The FBO catering handover is arranged with the handling agent, who opens the gate for the vehicle, and catering delivery to the FBO is timed to your slot, not to ours. Ground handling catering at KITH is straightforward: one vehicle, one named person, boxes labelled by seat. Handling agent catering is confirmed before the aircraft arrives, with the tail and the arrival time written on the order.

FBOHandling agentGround handlerGA terminal

High loaderLarge cabins, bizliners

Large cabin jet catering with a high loader at Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport (ITH)

At Ithaca the aircraft type decides the loading. Most arrivals are light or midsize jets with a door at stair height, so galley catering goes up by hand, in the order the galley is used. Airside catering delivery for a larger aircraft is arranged with the handling agent in advance, since aircraft provisioning with a high loader is not routine on a field this size. Tell us the type and we plan the carts, the drawer fit and the oven capacity.

Mention it when you order

HACCP kitchen

Certified, inspected, with cold-chain records filed against your trip.

All FBOs served

Whichever terminal you park at, handover is at the aircraft, on your slot.

Diets read twice

Allergen sheet per guest, halal and kosher on request, sealed and labelled.

One clean invoice

Itemised and trip-report ready, sent after the leg.

About the airportKITH / ITH

Airport catering at Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport (KITH)

Ithaca Tompkins Regional serves Tompkins County and the Finger Lakes at 1,099 feet, with a single terminal and a general aviation apron beside it. It is the airport for Cornell and Ithaca College, so business traffic follows the academic calendar: move-in, homecoming, reunion and commencement weekends. Airport catering here is planned around those peaks, and a jet catering order placed during graduation week competes with every other aircraft on the ramp. FBO services and ground handling services on the field are sized for that rhythm, which makes KITH a small business aviation hub where the apron is packed on a commencement weekend and bare again the Tuesday after.

Business aviation

For business aviation catering the season matters more than the hour. Fall weekends and spring commencement bring light jets in clusters, and winter brings lake effect snow that holds departures for hours. As a business aviation hub of modest size, KITH leaves little slack: FBO services and ground handling services are booked by the same few operators at once. Executive jet catering is kept hot-stable for the wait, inflight catering and in-flight catering are labelled for delayed re-plating, aviation catering is confirmed against the revised slot, and diplomatic flight catering for university guests and cabin crew meals are packed in separate sealed boxes, with crew meals on request beside them.

Customs & food import

Food moving in from outside the United States is subject to US customs and agriculture rules, and meat, dairy, fruit and fresh produce are the items most often held. Catering prepared in the US is not affected, which is the usual route for a flight arriving at KITH. The FBO services team and the ground handling services provider on the field handle any inspection of leftover food from an inbound international leg, so tell them early. If you are flying onward abroad, the destination country's import rules apply to what remains on board, and a small business aviation hub like Ithaca has little room for last-minute sorting, so we plan the return leg with that in mind.

ReviewsFrom the crews we cater for

5.0 / 5

★★★★★

Average rating from the cabin crew and pilots we cater for.

Leave a review

★★★★★VIP AIRLINER

“Good preparation made the difference at KITH, where 2 guests expected roasted chicken and seasonal vegetables despite a changing departure schedule. The Galley Girls talked through the quantities of side dishes with us before confirmation, rather than leaving us to guess the portions. My main takeaway from this private jet catering menu order was the practical approach to crew briefing. The quantities of snack boxes matched our service plan, leaving us comfortable with the order before the final briefing.”

Alexei H. | Chief cabin officer — BBJ

ACJ320

★★★★★LARGE CABIN

“Passenger preferences led us to herb chicken with a quinoa salad at ITH; 8 portions were needed, with a changing departure schedule factored into preparation. Our brief for private aviation catering was met with a sensible plan for cabin service sequence. The Galley Girls kept the starters separate from the finishing elements, which gave us control over the final presentation. We could finish the salads as each guest was ready, rather than laying everything out at once.”

Fatima W. | Chief flight attendant

Global 7500

★★★★★LIGHT JET

“My order at Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport covered a breakfast basket with individual preserves for 4 guests, with a practical service plan needed because of a small galley worktop. I would discuss business jet catering with them again, especially when galley preparation needs careful coordination. The Galley Girls labelled the snack boxes in line with our brief, so the cabin team could identify the relevant portions quickly. Keeping the fruit plates identifiable helped the colleague taking over service understand the order without another long explanation.”

Arthur X. | VIP flight attendant

Citation XLS+

The Ithaca Tompkins Regional questionsAsked by crews

How much does private jet catering cost into Ithaca?+

The quote is built dish by dish. Under US customs rules imported meat and dairy cannot simply be carried in, so the menu is cooked locally with ingredients we can document. Expect a lean crew order to cost far less than a four-course dinner for six, and ask for the line items to compare.

What is the lead time for catering at KITH?+

Give us ten hours when you can; shorter notice is accepted and worked. Galley capacity is the real limit at Ithaca, where most aircraft carry a drawer and a small oven, so the type of aircraft is the first thing we ask.

Are there customs rules for food at Ithaca?+

Customs treat catering prepared in the US as domestic, so an Ithaca order raises no import issue. If your aircraft is arriving from abroad with leftover food, expect inspection. When snow holds departures, uneaten items are more likely to stay on board and be checked.

Can you bring food onto the aircraft yourself?+

You can bring food, subject to the operator's policy and to US customs if it arrives from abroad. For a return leg ordered from here, we recommend letting us pack it so labels, allergens and reheat times are consistent for the way back.

Is catering part of a charter into Ithaca?+

No, the food is a separate booking. Night departures are common after Cornell events, so we schedule the handover to your slot and confirm it with the FBO.