Catering to your aircraft in Tulcán.
Tulcán's Mantilla International sits high above the Andean valleys, and departures here run on cold air and tight cabins. We prepare crew-friendly catering and hand it over to your handling agent.
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.
Carchi Province is potato and dairy country, and that shapes the private jet menu we write for Tulcán. The inflight menu draws on local specialities that survive a galley: papas chauchas roasted and packed to finish in the oven, fresh cheese and quesillo for cold boards, trout from the highland streams served chilled, and fruit that ripens in the cool valleys. Private jet food at this altitude should be warm, simple and forgiving, so the sauce travels apart and cold items go in sealed. Private jet platters for the cabin, gourmet inflight meals for the main service and private jet snacks for a long leg are built from the same Carchi pantry, with local specialities named so the crew knows what is on the tray.
For a Tulcán departure, the private jet menu starts with the pantry of Carchi Province: tubers in many colours, soft fresh cheese, dairy, trout and berries. Our inflight menu keeps these local specialities recognisable but galley-ready. Hot dishes are packed to finish in the oven with sauce apart, cold dishes arrive chilled and ready to re-plate. Private jet food here suits cool cabins at 9,649 ft, so soups, roasted vegetables and tender meats work well. Private jet platters, gourmet inflight meals and private jet snacks are each labelled by seat or purpose, and the Tulcán local specialities sit alongside familiar international choices for guests who prefer them.
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.
Cold air, a border crossing and a Carchi pantry define SETU. At Tulcán's Mantilla International we build private jet catering around what the region grows: potatoes, dairy, trout and highland fruit. In-flight catering is packed for the galley, aviation catering is cleared against Ecuador's food rules, and business aviation catering reaches the aircraft via your handling agent. Executive jet catering, diplomatic flight catering and cabin crew meals are ordered with the same call or email, any hour.
Business jet catering at Tulcán (SETU) is usually a short, focused brief for corporate jet catering and VIP flight catering: a few guests, one or two services, a galley without much room. Charter flight catering for the same field leans on luxury inflight catering from a private jet chef, with a bespoke menu built around Carchi dairy, potatoes and trout.
Tulcán sees delegations crossing the Colombian border, so government flight catering here is planned with the protocol office. For head of state flight catering, VIP aviation catering or state visit aircraft catering, the menu is agreed beforehand and delivered to the aircraft with seat numbers only.
Tulcán's kitchen leans on dairy, wheat and potato, so dietary orders here are handled as a procedure, not a promise. Kosher, halal, vegan, gluten free, allergen free and kids meals are each cooked and packed apart, with cheese, flour thickeners and fried items checked, since dairy and wheat turn up in many highland dishes. Special meals travel sealed, marked by seat number, and are served from their own tray so nothing mixes in the galley.
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.
At SETU the cold air makes warm food welcome, so crew meals here lean on soups and roasted potatoes, ordered on request and invoiced like everything else. Flight crew meals, pilot meals and crew catering are packed in crew meal boxes labelled CREW, with cockpit meals sealed for eating in a short stop, and different meals for pilots when the operator wants them split.
At Tulcán, the FBO or your handling agent receives the order and opens the right door for the aircraft. We coordinate FBO catering and catering delivery to the general aviation terminal around your slot, and ground handling catering and handling agent catering follow the same plan.
Out of Tulcán, it is the aircraft type that dictates how the load goes on board. A light jet takes catering by hand through the door; a larger cabin may call for galley catering brought to a high loader. Airside catering delivery is arranged with your handling agent, aircraft provisioning is matched to the galley and its oven, and the cool, thin air at Tulcán means we pack hot items to hold well and keep cold items sealed.
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.
Lieutenant Colonel Luis A. Mantilla International serves Tulcán in Carchi Province, a northern border city of Ecuador. The airport is a modest regional field where private aircraft and occasional delegations arrive, and its high elevation gives it a distinct cold, thin-air character.
Tulcán is a business aviation hub of a quiet kind: general aviation arrives here for border-region business and government travel. Airport catering and FBO services at SETU support that, with ground handling services arranged through your handling agent. Inflight catering and in-flight catering for private aircraft, plus aviation catering, business aviation catering, executive jet catering, diplomatic flight catering and cabin crew meals, are all ordered the same way for this airport.
At SETU, Ecuador's rules on imported food matter mainly for items arriving from abroad. Locally prepared catering is simpler to clear, and we advise declaring any food already on board, so the handover to the aircraft goes without delay.
Average rating from the cabin crew and pilots we cater for.
“Working around a revised passenger count at Lieutenant Colonel Luis A. Mantilla International Airport, I asked for yoghurt pots and fresh berries in portions appropriate for our 6 passengers. The Galley Girls understood why we wanted the desserts readily accessible instead of spread across several different boxes. Our colleague could take over the sauces without asking where every component had been placed during preparation. The cabin service sequence stood out more than any sales pitch about private jet meals.”
“Passenger preferences led us to roasted vegetable bowls with separate dressings at SETU; 10 portions were needed, with a changing departure schedule factored into preparation. We changed the quantities of fruit plates, and The Galley Girls reflected the request in the final packing list. The note about the crew provisions was easy to spot, and we could brief the rest of the team quickly. The order made private jet menu feel manageable because the meal organisation had been considered beforehand.”
“Good preparation made the difference at TUA, where 11 guests expected prawn salad and small fruit plates despite several individual meal preferences. Our handling contact received the order details from The Galley Girls, including how the starters had been grouped. I want a private jet chef to understand meal organisation, and this order gave us a useful starting point. The cabin team could match the sauces to the request before moving on to the remaining departure tasks.”
Two meals on one long leg from Tulcán is simply two menus in one order, and private jet catering cost reflects that. Local dairy and potato dishes are gentle on the budget, while fish and premium cuts raise it. Share the tail, slot and seat plan and we return a quote.
A night departure from SETU does not complicate the order: we work to your slot, the pack is made for your galley, and the handover happens at the aircraft. Last-minute orders are handled, and you can reach us 24/7.
Customs matter most when food arrives from outside Ecuador, so catering made here for Tulcán keeps things simple. A small galley means cold dishes and sealed items, a bigger one can take an oven finish. Send us the aircraft type and we adapt.
On a quick turnaround from Tulcán the easiest answer is to let us cook locally. Imported food faces Ecuador's import rules, while our catering is made in-country and delivered to the aircraft on your slot.
No. Catering is not part of a private jet charter into Tulcán: a delegation orders meals separately and they are invoiced on their own. For government and diplomatic flights the menu is cleared by protocol and handed over plane-side.
Tail, pax and diets — a flight attendant takes it from there, day or night.
