A Maine coon cat named Mittens became an accidental jet-setter this month when her cage was overlooked in a plane's cargo hold, leading her to make three trips in 24 hours between New Zealand and Australia. Mittens, 8, was scheduled for one-way travel with her family from Christchurch, New Zealand, to their new home in Melbourne, Australia, on January 13.

According to AP News, her owner, Margo Neas, noted that after waiting for three hours for Mittens to be unloaded, ground staff informed her that the plane had returned to New Zealand—with Mittens still onboard. The return flight lasts about 7.5 hours.

“I said, how can this happen? How can this happen? Oh my God,” Neas expressed in disbelief. The Air New Zealand pilot was notified about the extra passenger during the flight and, to keep Mittens comfortable, activated the heating in the cargo hold, as a stowed wheelchair had obstructed the baggage handler's view of her cage.

Neas described the experience as a less-than-ideal start to their new life in Melbourne: “It was not a great start to our new life because we didn’t have the family; we weren’t complete,” she lamented.

Fortunately, the saga concluded positively. Neas's pet moving company met with Mittens upon her return to Christchurch and arranged for her to catch another flight to Melbourne—this one being a simple one-way trip. While Mittens did lose some weight, she emerged otherwise unharmed.

“She basically just ran into my arms and just snuggled up in here and just did the biggest cuddles of all time,” Neas recounted, relieved to have her beloved pet back. The airline, in an effort to regain customer trust, announced they would reimburse all costs associated with Mittens' travel and issued an apology for the distress caused. “We’ll work closely with our ground handler in Melbourne to ensure this doesn’t happen again,” stated Air New Zealand spokesperson CNN.

Now, Mittens, who is usually not very affectionate, has become “the cuddliest she’s ever been,” Neas shared, adding, “The cat gets as much attention as she wants right now because we’re just so absolutely and utterly relieved to have her back,” as reported by South China Morning Post and The Guardian.