Air Malta has denied any link between the choice of Kristal water for distribution in economy class and its chairwoman’s involvement with the bottler, General Soft Drinks.

A spokesman for the airline said the choice of which bottled water to hand out to passengers was left entirely to the contractor, SkyGourmet.

As of January, Air Malta offers economy class passengers a small sandwich and a bottle of water instead of the in-flight meal that used to be served. The 500ml bottle of Kristal mineral water distributed on Air Malta flights is bottled by General Soft Drinks.

Maria Micallef, who took over the helm at Air Malta last July, is also chief operating officer at General Soft Drinks.

An airline spokesman said: “The choice of food and drink products on board Air Malta flights does not lie with Air Malta but with the contractor, SkyGourmet, as has always been the case.

The spokesman also said that products from General Soft Drinks had been made available on board Air Malta flights for years, well before Ms Micallef was appointed to the airline’s board of directors.

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