01
Wide-body & private jet
From a light jet to a full 777, one caterer, one standard
Aviation catering — Merced, United States
Hi-loader airline catering, VIP flight catering and private jet catering at Merced (KMER / MER)
MER (IATA) · KMER (ICAO)
Our kitchen loads Merced's wide-body reference stand by hi-loader, boarding meals directly to galley height rather than dropping them at the foot of the aircraft. Inflight catering here runs on one ops desk with airside access, and that same in-flight catering standard covers scheduled, VIP, government and charter movements, plus the uplift for private aviation.
3,597 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 — Merced
Inflight catering at wide-body scale for MER
Everything below is what we measure at this station — distances, windows, who signs what.
Airport catering order window at Merced airport
Flight catering sealed and logged to the stand at MER
Ramp access at Merced is planned before a cart ever leaves the kitchen, so the catering uplift meets the aircraft on schedule rather than waiting on it. Screening, apron transit and the walk to the stand are timed against the rotation, not against an average. What the timeline below shows is the sequence held at KMER, from sealed cart to galley door.
Between our kitchen and the stand at Merced sit screening, an escort through airside and the ordinary traffic of the apron, and we plan the catering uplift against the worst case those three present rather than the average one. That planning is what keeps the galley catering moving on schedule when a gate changes or a convoy is held at a checkpoint, because the risk in this chain has always been the route, not the food itself. Every cart is logged at two points: temperature and seal condition when it leaves the kitchen, and again at handover, closing the chain of custody with a signature at the aircraft.
One coordinator owns the load from the kitchen seal to the signature at the aircraft.
Pilot meals and crew meals prepared for Merced airport
Cargo crew meals produced to the same standard at KMER
The flight kitchen that provisions KMER runs hot production, pastry, a cold larder and a protocol line under one roof, built to HACCP standards from intake to seal. Airport catering in Merced draws on that same facility for every mission type the station handles, from a single ad hoc turn to a repeat rotation through the United States network. Airport catering in United States terms means one cold chain from the kitchen door to the stand, with the flight kitchen at MER holding the same production standard on every uplift regardless of cabin count.
The team that handles government flight catering at Merced is the same named crew on every rotation, carried on the access list with security clearance on file rather than rotated in ad hoc. They are trained to household standards for royal and VVIP work and briefed on the paperwork that has to travel with a sealed uplift, cart by cart. Catering at MER for this tier is signed off by that crew alone, closing the same chain of custody that covers a scheduled airline load.
VIP flight catering and dietary sets at Merced, United States
VVIP catering to a written specification at Merced airport
Menus at Merced are written to the cabin and the mission rather than to a fixed cycle, so a scheduled rotation, a state movement and a private charter each receive a different specification from the same kitchen. Inflight catering at KMER draws on regional produce where the season allows it, described in general terms only, since no dish or supplier is named on this page. Special meal sets, including allergen, halal, kosher and medical requirements, are documented per passenger and per cabin, produced on a separate line and sealed before departure. The result is a VIP flight menu and a charter flight menu built from the same production standard, adjusted by cabin count rather than by a separate process.
First & VVIP cabins
First and VVIP cabins at Merced are plated to a written specification, with à-la-carte and caviar service available on request rather than fixed to a set course order. VIP flight catering here is filed against the standing order so a repeat rotation receives the same presentation each time it lands.
Business cabins
Business cabins at MER receive multi-choice hot service built to cabin specification, boxed in oven-ready formats sized to the galley fitted to the aircraft. Crew meals at MER and pilot meals are boxed separately to the roster, alongside cabin crew meals for United States rotations, all carried on the same tray-set standard as the passenger load.
Protocol & dietary
Protocol and dietary requirements at KMER are documented per passenger, covering household, religious and medical sets alongside halal and kosher production and the full range of IATA special meal codes. Inflight catering at Merced produces these on a separate line and seals them before they leave it, so a labelled tray reaches the correct passenger on the first pass.
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
Food safety records for aviation catering at Merced, United States
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.
Aircraft catering delivered airside at Merced
Merced holds a single wide-body reference stand, which sets the pattern for how catering is planned here: a delegation arriving on it is a documentation exercise, a peak departure wave is a capacity exercise, and a repeat charter rotation is a matter of holding the same specification twice. Airline catering at Merced is built around that one stand rather than around a bank of gates, so sequencing starts earlier and the loading sheet is fixed before the aircraft blocks in.
The uplift travels from our kitchen to the ramp under escort, with ground handling on the apron and airside delivery straight to the stand rather than a handoff at a perimeter gate. Aviation catering in United States terms depends on that short, controlled run, and in-flight catering at KMER is loaded by hi-loader to galley height so nothing sits on a cart at the foot of the aircraft. Inflight catering at MER and airport catering at KMER both run off the same ops desk that plans the ramp routing for the day.
What we commit to on this station is one coordinator per rotation, sealed carts from kitchen to galley, and a signed handover that closes the load.
Commercial aviation catering and VVIP missions at KMER
01
Government and state flight catering at MER
A wide-body reference stand is what lets a head of state aircraft move through Merced without being fitted around narrower-body traffic, and that single-stand handling is what state and delegation work here is built on. Government flight catering at MER documents the protocol file per passenger, assigns security-cleared staff to the load, and seals the uplift before it leaves the kitchen.
Government & state flights →
02
Royal and VVIP flight catering at Merced
At 3597 metres, the runway at Merced takes the private airliners this tier flies without a weight restriction shortening the load. Royal flight catering here holds household standards across repeat rotations from a written specification kept on file between movements, covering BBJ, ACJ and other wide-body VIP types, with halal and other household dietary requirements produced on request.
Royal & VVIP flights →
03
Charter and ACMI flight catering at KMER
A single wide-body stand means a charter rotation has to be sequenced around whatever else is booked on it that day, which is why the loading sheet for group and ACMI movements is fixed before block-in rather than adjusted on the ramp. Charter flight catering at KMER covers wet-lease operators, group movements and special missions with a full three-cabin uplift, and charter flight catering in Merced is staged in the order the galleys are laid out.
Wide-body charter →
04
Airline and ad hoc catering at MER
Merced's single wide-body reference stand means every rotation through it is sequenced individually rather than assigned to a bank of similar gates. That makes it a natural outstation point: ad hoc airline catering covers carriers using MER outside a regular schedule, outstation catering supports the airlines that route through it periodically, diversion catering and technical stop catering are held ready for AOG and unplanned arrivals, and crew meals in Merced travel on the same loading sheet across a multi-leg pattern.
Commercial airlines →
05
Private jet and FBO catering at Merced
At 3597 metres, the runway at Merced takes the business aviation types that route through its GA terminal and the FBOs on the field, without a length restriction on the aircraft this segment flies. Private jet catering at Merced reaches those FBOs directly, and business aviation catering and business jet catering here run on the same cold chain and paperwork as an airline uplift.
Private jets →
Charter flight catering trusted at Merced airport
Protocol teams on VVIP catering at Merced (MER)
Government flight department
Royal household
Charter operator
Scheduled airline
“For a last-minute requirement at Merced (MER/KMER), we contacted them as our airline catering partner. They understood airline operations and kept communication short, clear, and useful. We would use the service again without hesitation. The final handover was simple and there was nothing for the crew to correct before departure.”
★★★★★Scheduled airline
Manuel — Flight Support Manager
“We booked private jet catering in Merced for a flight operating through MER/KMER. The order was confirmed quickly, delivered on time, and packed exactly as requested for the aircraft. A very easy service to use at this station. That made the turnaround easier for both the flight crew and the team on the ground.”
★★★★★Scheduled airline
Selim — Ramp Operations Manager
“For our flight from Merced (MER/KMER), the cabin order included multiple special meals. Each item was clearly identified, separated from the standard meals, and easy to check before boarding. A good experience with complex dietary requests. The order was complete on arrival and easy for us to check before closing the doors.”
★★★★★Private jet operator
Tariq — VIP Operations Controller
Flight catering station reference for Merced (KMER / MER)
| Datum | Value |
|---|---|
| Longest runway | 3,597 m |
| Runways | 1 |
| Aerodrome reference code | wide-body |
| ICAO | KMER |
Business jet catering questions at Merced, United States
Technical stop catering questions at Merced, United States
What operations gets asked every week about Merced.
Ask operations directly →At what point does an order need to be placed for a flight through KMER, and how late can the specification still change?
The kitchen needs the cabin count and mission type confirmed first, since that sets the production line before anything else is scheduled; after that, the lead time for a standard order is shorter than for a full state or VVIP specification, and last minute airline catering is still handled through the same ops desk when a diversion or technical stop brings the request in close to departure.
Are VIP, VVIP and government flights catered at Merced, and under what protocol?
The same named coordinator and escort team handle this tier every time, working to a documented protocol that covers security clearance, sealed handover and household service standards. VIP flight catering and government flight catering at MER both run on that file, whether the movement is a single aircraft or a repeat rotation.
Where can an operator see what airline catering costs at Merced Regional Airport?
The signed quotation is the only record of price, since no fixed list is published; airline catering cost here depends on cabin count, the specification chosen and the loading window requested, and the desk returns a figure once those are confirmed.
Does MER catering reach the FBOs and the GA terminal for private jet work?
Every FBO on the field and the GA terminal itself are served from the same kitchen as the airline load. Private jet catering and FBO catering at MER travel on the same cold chain and the same sealed paperwork as a wide-body uplift.
Outstation catering near Merced
MCE / KMCE
Merced
United States · 12 km from Merced
Airline & VIP flight catering →
MOD / KMOD
Modesto
United States · 44 km from Merced
Airline & VIP flight catering →
SCK / KSCK
Stockton
United States · 82 km from Merced
Airline & VIP flight catering →
Aircraft catering quote for Merced
Request a quote
Send us your catering needs for MER
Merced (MER / KMER)
Give us the aircraft and what goes on board. A coordinator comes back with a quote for Merced, 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 Merced (MER)