Catering to your aircraft in Manta.
Manta's apron is warm and salt-laced, and a departure can wait on weather. We pack for that: chilled, sealed, labelled by seat, and handed over 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.
Manta calls itself the tuna capital of Ecuador, and the Manabi coast gives the private jet menu its backbone. Local specialities arrive in the galley as they would on a table in town, only adapted: encebollado as a sealed broth with the fish and pickled onion apart, ceviche de pescado chilled and portioned by seat, verde plantain chips in a closed box.
Every private jet menu for this region is built around the coast, so jet catering at SEMT often means seafood that must stay cold and sauces that must stay separate. An inflight menu drawn from Manabi also carries cacao and coffee from the province, plus Ecuadorian fruit such as maracuya and naranjilla.
Private jet food from {Region}-style kitchens favours bold, bright flavours. We label each local speciality with how it should be served, so the person in the galley never has to guess what goes in the oven and what is plated cold.
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.
Manta sits on Ecuador's Pacific coast, and SEMT is where the Manabi seafood boats and the business aircraft share the same sticky air. Private jet catering here starts with what survives humidity: ceviche and encebollado are planned around the galley, not the other way round. Inflight catering for a MEC departure is written with the cabin crew meals in mind, since a trip through Manta often continues to the Galapagos or back to Quito. Our aviation catering is cooked and packed by former VIP flight attendants, handed over at the FBO or at the aircraft, and covers business aviation catering, executive jet catering and diplomatic flight catering when a delegation lands. In-flight catering requests are handled around the clock, including late changes.
A Manta business flight often connects Quito, Guayaquil or the islands. For corporate jet catering and business jet catering, we ask the type, the headcount and the slot. A private jet chef builds a bespoke menu from what the Pacific brings in; VIP flight catering and charter flight catering are written to the galley you actually have, and luxury inflight catering stays simple and fresh.
Government flight catering at SEMT is written around protocol and discretion. Head of state flight catering and VIP aviation catering follow a stricter brief: named contacts, traceable ingredients, a closed handover. State visit aircraft catering for a delegation landing in Manta is cleared before anything is cooked.
Eloy Alfaro sits in a region where bread, corn and fried plantain are everywhere, so special meals are handled as a procedure rather than a label. A gluten free tray is cooked on its own board and packed in its own box, away from the plantain fritters and wheat rolls. Kosher, halal and vegan requests are written into the same brief, as are allergen free dishes and kids meals. Seafood is the obvious allergen on this coast, so shellfish and fish dishes are separated from every other tray before packing.
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.
For a Manta turnaround, crew catering is ordered with the flight and billed with it, not offered as a gift. Crew meals, flight crew meals and pilot meals are packed in their own boxes; cockpit meals stay easy to eat, crew meal boxes are marked, and different meals for pilots are available when the policy calls for it.
FBO catering at SEMT means the order reaches the aircraft through the general aviation terminal and your handling agent. Catering delivery to the FBO is coordinated with ground handling catering rules, so the handover time matches your slot. Handling agent catering is simple when we have the tail and the slot.
Galley catering at SEMT depends on the aircraft: a light jet or midsize business jet is loaded by hand, while a larger cabin may need a high loader at the door. Airside catering delivery is arranged through your handling agent, who opens access to the apron. We pack for the aircraft provisioning that the galley can actually take, with trolleys, boxes and insulated bags sized to the door and the stowage. Tell us the type when you order and we plan the load around it.
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.
SEMT is the airport of Manta, a port city on Ecuador's Pacific coast. General aviation shares the field with scheduled flights, and FBO services arrange the handover for visiting aircraft. Airport catering here is ordered the same way as anywhere else, and ground handling services open the apron gate when the food reaches the aircraft.
As a business aviation hub for the Manabi coast, SEMT treats private jet catering, executive jet catering and diplomatic flight catering as ordinary requests. Inflight catering and in-flight catering are ordered by phone or email, cabin crew meals travel in their own marked boxes, and crew meals follow the flight on request. Aviation catering and business aviation catering are written to each galley, with airport catering planned around the apron and the ground handling services on duty.
Ecuador controls fresh food entering the country, so airport catering for an international arrival is planned from local produce. Your handling agent, through the ground handling services at SEMT, confirms airside access and any inspection on the day.
Average rating from the cabin crew and pilots we cater for.
“A request for chicken skewers with a couscous salad, 4 passengers, and a tight boarding window: that was our brief for the departure at SEMT. For our team, the strongest part of their vip inflight catering was how they handled portion planning. The Galley Girls suggested stackable containers for the sauces, and that choice worked well with our storage arrangement. I could hand the breakfast portions to a colleague with a short explanation instead of unpacking the whole order.”
“Having 10 guests request vegetable tartlets and a dessert selection at MEC meant planning the portions carefully while accounting for several individual meal preferences. With private jet catering, careful attention to final order confirmation matters as much to our crew as the menu itself. The Galley Girls confirmed the handover contact and identified the main courses, making the catering delivery easier for our team to track. We could account for the breakfast portions before passing the boxes to the cabin team, without a lengthy unpacking exercise.”
“Working around a revised passenger count at Eloy Alfaro International Airport, I asked for fresh fruit and breakfast pastries in portions appropriate for our 7 passengers. The confirmation from The Galley Girls showed the snack boxes clearly enough for us to check the planned service quantities. The quantities of fruit plates matched our service plan, leaving us comfortable with the order before the final briefing. The meal organisation stood out more than any sales pitch about private jet catering services.”
Ask how much private jet catering costs for a Manabi turnaround and the honest answer starts with a question: who is eating, and for how long are you on the ground? Ceviche for six costs less than three hot courses for six plus two crew meals. We quote per menu, in writing.
Lead time at Eloy Alfaro is shaped by seasonal product, not by a clock. Fresh fish is available most of the year, while some fruits depend on the month, so earlier details help us keep the menu local. A late change in headcount is not a problem; last-minute orders are handled.
For customs at Eloy Alfaro, start with the handling agent. Airside access, inspection of the food crate, and the line between catering loaded here and food brought from abroad are all handled there. Local sourcing keeps your galley clear of imported fresh product that could be refused.
You can bring food, but Manta's climate argues for ordering here. Coastal heat and salt air shorten the life of anything unsealed, and when a seasonal rain or low cloud shifts your departure, a fresh, well-packed tray is still good. Customs rules on imported food also apply, so the local route is simpler.
Charter agreements rarely cover food, and at Manta they do not. Order catering as a distinct line, add a local dish such as ceviche or encebollado if you want something regional, and expect a separate invoice for it.
Tail, pax and diets — a flight attendant takes it from there, day or night.
