Cat from New Zealand flies there and back again after being left on a plane in Australia

A Maine coon cat named Mittens became an accidental jet-setter this month when her cage was overlooked in a plane cargo hold and she made three trips in 24 hours between New Zealand and Australia.

Mittens, 8, was booked for one-way travel with her family from Christchurch, New Zealand to their new home in Melbourne, Australia on January 13. But owner Margo Neas said on Wednesday that as she waited for Mittens to be unloaded from the plane’s freight area, three hours passed with no sign of the cat.

It was then that ground staff told Neas the plane had returned to New Zealand – with Mittens still on board. The return trip involves about 7.5 hours in the air.

“I said, how can this happen? How can this happen? Oh my God,” Neas said.

The Air New Zealand pilot was told of the extra passenger during the flight and turned on the heating in the cargo hold to keep Mittens comfortable, she added. Neas was told that a stowed wheelchair had obscured a baggage handler’s view of Mittens’ cage.

“It was not a great start to our new life in Melbourne because we didn’t have the family, we weren’t complete,” she said.