Airline Galley Equipment

The airline's view of the galley

For an aircraft manufacturer the galley is certified structure. For an airline it is a working system that has to turn round in minutes, several times a day, at airports with different caterers. Airline galley equipment is everything that moves through that system: the trolleys and containers that are loaded on the ground, the inserts that heat and chill food in flight, and the service items the crew use in the aisle.

Most of the food and drink served on board is prepared by a caterer on the ground. It is loaded into trolleys and standard containers, sealed, delivered to the aircraft and rolled into the galley during the turnaround. In flight the crew heat or chill it, serve it from the trolleys and return the waste to the same equipment, which goes back to the caterer after landing to be emptied, washed and loaded again.

One standard across fleet and caterers

Because the same trolley may be loaded by one caterer and unloaded by another in a different country, compatibility matters more than any individual item.

ATLAS or KSSU

Two trolley standards dominate. ATLAS, named after Alitalia, TAP, Lufthansa, Air France and Sabena, is used by about 80 % of airlines. KSSU is named after KLM, Swissair, SAS and UTA. Both are about 103 cm tall and about 30 cm wide. A full-size ATLAS trolley is about 81 cm long and a half-size about 40.5 cm; KSSU trolleys are deeper, about 85 cm full size and about 42.5 cm half size.

Accessories for one standard do not fit the other. An airline therefore has to keep its trolleys, its standard containers, its caterers' equipment and the galley bays of every aircraft in the fleet on the same standard. Mixed fleets, leased aircraft and new caterers are where mismatches usually appear.

Full-size and half-size trolleys

Full-size trolleys carry the bulk of meal and drink service. Half-size trolleys take the same height and width in half the length, which suits smaller galleys, bar service and positions where a full trolley cannot be manoeuvred. A full-size ATLAS trolley weighs about 15 kg empty, and every one of them is flown full or empty on every sector.

Short-haul and long-haul service

The same equipment families are used on both, in different proportions.

On short-haul flights service is shorter and simpler. Galleys are smaller, fewer meals are heated, and trolleys often carry drinks, snacks and items for sale. Turnaround time is the limiting factor, so equipment that can be exchanged quickly and loaded without rearrangement is valued.

On long-haul flights the galley has to hold several meal services, often in more than one cabin class. More food is heated in flight, more has to be kept chilled for longer, and hot drinks are served throughout the flight. Ovens, chillers or refrigeration units, water boilers and beverage makers carry more of the workload, and the galley needs more stowage for standard containers and waste. The inserts themselves are described on the aircraft galley components page.

Waste on board

Everything served comes back into the galley. Waste trolleys and standard containers collect it during service, and some galleys add trash compactors to reduce its volume before landing. On aeroplanes with 20 or more passenger seats, 14 CFR 25.853 requires galley structure, including the exposed surfaces of stowed carts and standard containers, to meet heat release and smoke emission tests, so waste stowage is part of the certified galley rather than an afterthought.

Certified items, not generic kitchenware

Carts, containers and their components are aviation parts. FAA technical standard order TSO-C175 covers galley carts, containers and associated components and adopts SAE AS8056 as its minimum performance standard. Items bought as replacements are expected to carry the approvals and documentation of the originals. The regulatory background is covered on the commercial aircraft galley equipment page.

Planning an airline galley equipment order

Airline galley equipment is usually ordered as replacement stock or for a fleet change, and it is identified by standard and part number. An enquiry is quoted most quickly with:

• The trolley and container standard, ATLAS or KSSU, and the aircraft types it must fit.
• Part numbers or manufacturer references, and quantities per item.
• Whether the items replace existing stock or equip additional aircraft.
• Delivery location: the airline's base or the caterer's facility.
• Any airline branding, colour or documentation requirement.

For trolleys, containers, drawers and trays in more detail, see aircraft galley accessories. The aircraft galley equipment list sets out the full galley inventory by function, and the aircraft galley equipment guide explains the standards.

The products in our catalogue are marine galley equipment and are not certified for aircraft installation; for ship and yacht galleys see marine galley equipment.