01
Wide-body & private jet
From a light jet to a full 777, one caterer, one standard
Aviation catering — Mattala, Sri Lanka
Airline catering, VIP and private jet catering at Mattala (VCRI / HRI)
HRI (IATA) · VCRI (ICAO)
The wide-body reference code held at Mattala sets the aerodrome up for hi-loader boarding on the aircraft it accepts, rather than delivery to the tarmac beneath it. Inflight catering, in-flight catering and aviation catering here run to galley height, uplifted straight from a sealed cart to the aircraft door.
3,500 m
Longest runway
Wide-body
Largest aircraft handled
1
Runways
02
VIP at any volume
8 First covers or 400 passengers across three cabins, same execution
03
24/7 order desk
Ad hoc, AOG and same-day uplift answered around the clock
04
Multi-leg coordination
One loading sheet, every leg of your rotation
On the apron — Mattala
Inflight catering loaded to galley height at VCRI
Everything below is what we measure at this station — distances, windows, who signs what.
Aircraft catering lead times at Mattala airport
Aviation catering from sealed cart to galley door at HRI
The loading window at Mattala runs on a fixed sequence rather than a guess: the sealed cart leaves our kitchen, crosses the apron under ramp access we hold on our own badges, and reaches the galley door on the schedule the rotation sets. Every catering uplift is logged at the point the cart is sealed and again at the point it is handed over, so the record runs the whole distance rather than one end of it. Nothing about that sequence changes for a scheduled service, a diversion or a technical stop.
The convoy between our kitchen and the stand is the part of a catering uplift that carries the risk, not the food inside it: screening, an escort onto the apron, and the ordinary traffic of a working ramp all sit ahead of the galley door.
We plan the route against the worst case on the day, not the average one, which is why the chain of custody is fixed before the cart ever leaves the kitchen door. Temperature is logged at the seal and logged again at the handover, and a single galley catering coordinator carries the sheet from one end to the other. The signature that closes it is the same one that opened it.
One coordinator carries the load from the sealed kitchen door to the signed galley handover.
Pilot meals and cabin service produced for Mattala (HRI)
Cargo crew meals produced to the same standard at VCRI
Airport catering at Mattala runs from a single flight kitchen built to hold hot production, pastry, a cold larder and a protocol line under one roof, rather than splitting output across separate sites. That layout is what lets airport catering here move from cold storage to a sealed, galley-ready cart without a second handling step in between. Every line in the building answers to the HACCP standard the kitchen is run against, tray by tray, cart by cart.
The team that handles government flight catering at this kitchen is the same named crew on every rotation, not a rotating pool drawn in for the day. Security clearance is on file for each of them, access is held on a fixed list rather than issued ad hoc, and training runs to household service standards as well as to the paperwork a sealed uplift travels with. That continuity is what a protocol desk is actually checking when it asks who will be on the ramp.
VIP flight catering and dietary sets at Mattala, Sri Lanka
VVIP catering to a written specification at Mattala airport
Menus at Mattala are written to the cabin and the mission first, and adjusted for the season after that, rather than run from one fixed cycle across every flight. Sri Lanka's own produce, dairy and orchard fruit among it, gives the kitchen a local base to season a rotation without carrying it long distance. From a First-class tray to a crew meal box, inflight catering here is planned on the same specification sheet that travels with the cart. Every allergen, halal, kosher and medical requirement is documented per passenger and per cabin before the load is sealed, not worked out at the galley door.
First & VVIP cabins
First and VVIP cabins at Mattala are plated to a written specification rather than to a standing menu card, with à-la-carte and caviar service available on request. VIP flight catering here is filed against that same specification for every rotation it repeats on, so the presentation does not drift between one movement and the next.
Business cabins
Business cabins at HRI run a multi-choice hot service built to oven-ready formats sized to the aircraft's own galley, boxed in tray sets rather than plated to order. Cabin crew meals in Mattala and pilot meals travel in their own crew meal boxes, logged separately from the passenger load, and crew meals at Mattala follow the same roster the flight deck works to.
Protocol & dietary
Protocol and dietary requirements at Mattala are documented per passenger, covering household, religious and medical needs on a single record rather than a verbal note passed at the door. Halal and kosher sets, and the full run of IATA special meal codes, are produced on a separate line and sealed before that line's output ever meets the general inflight catering trolley.
The three books
01
Royal & Government Flights
Royal households · government · state operations
- Plated service · First to main cabin
- Protocol handling · security clearance
02
Charter & Commercial
Charter · ACMI · group · scheduled · ad hoc
- 400 passengers · one uplift
- HACCP cold chain, logged to the galley door
03
Private Jet
Business jet · VVIP charter · flight departments
- From 8 covers · plated forward
- Reheat sequence specified per dish
Compliance
HACCP standards for aviation catering at VCRI / HRI
HACCP
HACCP cold chain
Produced in our own certified kitchens, temperature logged end to end.
Clearance
Cleared personnel
Security-cleared staff, badged airside vehicles, escorted where the stand requires it.
Custody
Sealed chain of custody
Carts sealed at the kitchen, seals verified and handovers signed at the aircraft.
Allergens
Documented allergen sets
Allergen, halal, kosher and medical requirements documented per uplift and per passenger.
Flight catering airside delivery at Mattala
Mattala's wide-body reference code shapes the traffic it takes and, with it, the catering load that traffic sets: a single stand rated for that class turns a delegation into a documentation task and a charter wave into a capacity one, on the same apron.
The uplift travels from our kitchen to that stand by hi-loader, boarded directly to galley height rather than set down at the aircraft door, with our own crew holding the escort across the ramp. Airline catering at Mattala and airport catering at Mattala both run on that single route, because there is only the one stand to plan against.
Aviation catering at HRI, alongside inflight catering at Mattala and in-flight catering at HRI, is carried by one coordinator per rotation, sealed carts, and a handover signed at the galley door before the cart is released.
Commercial aviation catering for every mission at VCRI
01
Government and state flight catering at HRI
Our kitchen at Mattala runs the same production line for a delegation as for a scheduled service, which is what lets government flight catering move fast when a state visit lands with short notice. Protocol is documented per passenger, staff are security-cleared, and the uplift is sealed at the kitchen door before it leaves for the stand.
Government & state flights →
02
Royal and VVIP flight catering at Mattala
A 3,500-metre runway is enough to bring a private airliner into Mattala on its own schedule rather than folding it into a scheduled wave. Royal flight catering and VVIP work for BBJ, ACJ and wide-body VIP movements here run to a written household specification kept on file between visits, with halal and other household requirements produced on request.
Royal & VVIP flights →
03
Charter and ACMI flight catering at VCRI
A wide-body airframe on a group charter or an ACMI rotation is what the single stand at Mattala is rated to take, and that rating is what lets a full three-cabin uplift board in one pass rather than several. Charter flight catering in Sri Lanka for ACMI and wet-lease operators, group movements and special missions is counted against the loading sheet and staged in galley order, and charter flight catering at HRI runs the same way whatever the mission behind it.
Wide-body charter →
04
Airline and ad hoc catering at HRI
Mattala's 3,500-metre runway, the only one on the field, sets what can divert or make a technical stop here rather than being turned away. Ad hoc airline catering covers a carrier running this station as an outstation, with outstation catering, diversion catering and technical stop catering all worked off one duty roster; AOG is picked up on the same roster, across a multi-leg rotation, and crew meals in Sri Lanka travel with it.
Commercial airlines →
05
Private jet and FBO catering at Mattala
On the same field that holds Mattala's wide-body stand, the GA terminal and the FBOs handle a separate, lighter class of traffic on their own apron frontage. Private jet catering at Mattala reaches them through our dedicated branch, on the same cold chain and the same paperwork as an airline uplift, business aviation catering and business jet catering included, with FBO catering delivered straight to the ramp handler on request.
Private jets →
Inflight catering rated by operators at Mattala airport
Ops desks rating airline catering services at Mattala (HRI)
Government flight department
Royal household
Charter operator
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Scheduled airline
“For our departure from Mattala (HRI/VCRI), we specifically needed HACCP. Presentation stayed good while the setup remained practical for a fast aircraft turnaround. Very cabin-friendly catering. Updates were timely and the final delivery matched the confirmation we had from operations. Responses were quick whenever we had a question, which helped us keep the flight on schedule.”
★★★★★Scheduled airline
Sofia — Station Services Coordinator
“We used the team for catering uplift at Mattala (HRI/VCRI) during a tight turnaround. Communication between dispatch, handling, and catering was clear throughout. A very useful service for ad hoc flying. The final handover was simple and there was nothing for the crew to correct before departure. From an operational point of view, the service was easy to manage and required very little follow-up.”
★★★★☆Private jet operator
Jamal — Private Aviation Manager
“I ordered business jet catering for our departure from Mattala (HRI/VCRI) and was very happy with the service. They followed my notes closely, kept me updated, and delivered at the time agreed with the FBO. Reliable, responsive, and easy to work with. The order was complete on arrival and easy for us to check before closing the doors.”
★★★★★Charter operator
Rafael — Charter Dispatch Manager
Station data for airport catering at Mattala (VCRI / HRI)
| Datum | Value |
|---|---|
| Longest runway | 3,500 m |
| Runways | 1 |
| Aerodrome reference code | wide-body |
| ICAO | VCRI |
Airline catering questions for Mattala, Sri Lanka
Crew meals, lead times and access at Mattala, Sri Lanka
What operations gets asked every week about Mattala.
Ask operations directly →Does an order for HRI need to be placed a set number of days out, and how late can the specification still move?
Every order carries its own lead time depending on cabin count and mission, and last minute airline catering is worked against whatever window remains before the loading slot closes.
Where at VCRI does private jet catering reach the FBOs and the GA terminal on the field?
The same sealed handover sheet that travels with an airline uplift covers FBO catering here, so private jet catering delivered to the FBOs and the GA terminal is logged on the same paperwork and the same cold chain.
When is VIP flight catering and government flight catering handled under protocol in Mattala?
As soon as a movement is flagged as VIP, VVIP or government, the order moves onto the protocol line, with security-cleared staff and documentation carried per passenger through to the sealed uplift.
Are halal, kosher and the IATA special meal codes produced and documented at Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport?
The kitchen coordinator runs halal, kosher and the full set of SPML codes on a separate production line, with each special meal logged against the passenger it is built for before sealing.
Jet catering at airports near Mattala
KCT / VCCK
Galle
Sri Lanka · 95 km from Mattala
Airline & VIP flight catering →
ADP / VCCG
Ampara
Sri Lanka · 129 km from Mattala
Airline & VIP flight catering →
RML / VCCC
Colombo
Sri Lanka · 149 km from Mattala
Airline & VIP flight catering →
Charter flight catering quote for Mattala
Request a quote
Send us your catering needs for HRI
Mattala (HRI / VCRI)
Give us the aircraft and what goes on board. A coordinator comes back with a quote for Mattala, not a brochure.
orders@aerogourmet.com · operations desk, 24/7
Four steps
Flight
Aircraft · stand · local time
Offloading
Return leg, if any
Order
Counts · menus · files
Contact
Who we come back to
Uplift at Mattala (HRI)