Catering to your aircraft in Tarapoa.
In Sucumbios the weather decides the day: heat, sudden rain, a ramp that is never dry. We pack for that and hand the order over at the aircraft for your crew at Tarapoa.
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.
Sucumbios Province is Amazon country: river fish, plantain, yuca and tropical fruit shape the local table, and a private jet menu built here borrows from that without ignoring what a galley can hold. Our local specialities come out as private jet food that travels well: tilapia or river fish grilled and packed chilled with the sauce apart, plantain patacones and maduros re-plated cold or finished in the oven, and ceviche-style plates kept cold. For an inflight menu from Tarapoa we favour private jet platters of cut tropical fruit, cheese and cured meats, gourmet inflight meals with a coastal or highland-Ecuador slant, and private jet snacks such as tostado corn, fried plantain chips and dark Ecuadorian chocolate. Every dish is written for the cabin, not the restaurant.
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.
Tarapoa Airport (SETR / TPC) serves the oil operations of Sucumbios Province, deep in the Ecuadorian Amazon basin, where the air is wet and warm all year. Private jet catering here is planned around that heat: food that holds chilled on the apron and finishes in your oven or re-plated cold. For inflight catering and in-flight catering on this strip, you give us the tail, the slot and the headcount, and we pack to the galley you actually have. Aviation catering for business aviation catering flights, executive jet catering, diplomatic flight catering and cabin crew meals is written the same way: one order, one invoice.
A typical brief at Tarapoa is an energy-sector team flying out for the day: four to eight seats, a light jet, a short ground time. Business jet catering and corporate jet catering here lean on VIP flight catering that is simple to serve and charter flight catering that holds in heat. A private jet chef writes a bespoke menu around the type of galley, and luxury inflight catering means cold dishes that look right when re-plated.
When an official flight lands at Tarapoa, discretion is the first requirement. Government flight catering and head of state flight catering run on a menu approved in advance and ingredients we can trace. VIP aviation catering and state visit aircraft catering are delivered to the aircraft with a small, named team and no fuss at the gate.
Allergen control in Ecuadorian cooking means watching for peanut in sauces, shellfish in ceviche and stews, and dairy in the cheese-heavy highland dishes. For kosher, halal, vegan, gluten free, special meals, allergen free and kids meals at Tarapoa, we work from the passenger list and cook each restriction on its own board, packed and sealed in its own box, marked by seat. It is a procedure: gluten free, vegan and allergen free plates travel apart from the main trays, so nothing meets 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.
Crews on the Tarapoa run want food that survives a hot ramp and a short ground time. Crew meals are a line on the order, added on request and billed like the rest. Flight crew meals and pilot meals are packed cold or oven-ready, crew catering is marked by role, and cockpit meals are made to eat without a table. Crew meal boxes travel separately from the cabin service, and different meals for pilots are available when the operator's policy asks for it, as are cabin crew meals.
At SETR, FBO catering is handed over where your aircraft is parked: we coordinate with your handling agent for catering delivery to the FBO, and the general aviation terminal is the point of contact on the ground. Ground handling catering and handling agent catering mean one hand-off, one signature, one order.
Aircraft at Tarapoa run from turboprops and light jets to larger cabins on oil-company charters, and the aircraft type decides how we load. Galley catering is sized to the galley you actually have, with one oven or none. Airside catering delivery to the apron is coordinated with your handling agent, and aircraft provisioning for larger cabins can come in carts or crates, packed in the order you will pull them out.
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.
Tarapoa is a small airport in Sucumbios Province, built for the oil and gas operations of Ecuador's Amazon basin. As an airport catering stop it is mostly crew-led and operator-led, with general aviation traffic tied to field work rather than tourism.
Business aviation at Tarapoa is functional: corporate shuttles, charter flights and the occasional official visit. Inflight catering and in-flight catering here follow the same discipline, and aviation catering for business aviation catering flights, executive jet catering and diplomatic flight catering is simple and local. Cabin crew meals are part of the same order, on request and invoiced. FBO services and ground handling services are modest, and the business aviation hub role belongs to larger airports in Ecuador.
Customs and agricultural officers in Ecuador look closely at animal and plant products arriving by air. Ordering from us means food is sourced locally and sealed, which avoids the import question on the way in and gives you a clear list on the way out.
Average rating from the cabin crew and pilots we cater for.
“Nothing about the 4 guest order at SETR called for excess complexity: just a breakfast basket with individual preserves and sensible planning for a short ground stop. Our request to The Galley Girls focused on the salads, with enough detail to distinguish passenger portions from additional provisions. The quantities of starters matched our service plan, leaving us comfortable with the order before the final briefing. My main takeaway from this in flight catering order was the practical approach to storage requirements.”
“Breakfast was already sorted; at TPC, the next request was a cheese board and savoury canapés for 10 guests, with two separate meal services to work around. I asked The Galley Girls for the sauces in divided catering boxes, with garnishes supplied separately for plating on board. We could finish the desserts as each guest was ready, rather than laying everything out at once. With inflight catering services, careful attention to crew briefing matters as much to our crew as the menu itself.”
“An order of roasted vegetable bowls with separate dressings for 8 people at Tarapoa Airport had to be organised around a changing departure schedule. The fruit plates supplied by The Galley Girls were straightforward to check against the written menu before the cabin handover. I want an inflight catering company to understand packing arrangement, and this order gave us a useful starting point. Keeping the sandwiches identifiable helped the colleague taking over service understand the order without another long explanation.”
Expect the cost to rise with what the galley can do. An aircraft with a proper oven lets us pack hot gourmet inflight meals; one with only a cooler gets chilled platters, which cost less. Tell us the type and we cost it that way.
Lead time is a question of turnaround. At Tarapoa a brief ground stop wants food that is ready to plate; a longer one lets us do more. We take the slot and handle last-minute orders.
For a delegation or government flight, Ecuador's customs and agricultural controls still apply to fresh produce, meat and dairy brought in from abroad. We cook and provision locally, so the food reaches the aircraft sealed and documented, and diplomatic flight catering stays clean at the border.
Carrying your own food is possible, though fresh items are what customs hold. For a quick empty leg, pilots usually prefer a sealed cockpit meal from us, packed cold and eaten with one hand.
Not usually: catering sits apart from a charter and is ordered and invoiced on its own. A return leg ordered at Tarapoa works well with a cold menu that rides in the drawer until the seatbelt sign goes off.
Tail, pax and diets — a flight attendant takes it from there, day or night.
