WELLINGTON – A Maine coon cat named Mittens became an accidental jetsetter 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 Jan. 13. But owner Margo Neas said 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.

But the saga had a happy ending. The pet moving company that Neas used to arrange Mittens’ travel met the cat on her return to Christchurch and ensured she was back on the plane for another trip to Melbourne — this time just one way.

Mittens had lost weight but was 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 said. “It was just such a relief.”

Air New Zealand would reimburse all costs associated with Mittens’ travel and has apologized for the distress caused, the airline said in a statement.

“We’ll work closely with our ground handler in Melbourne to ensure this doesn’t happen again,” said spokesperson Alisha Armstrong.

Meanwhile Mittens, not usually an affectionate pet, is “the cuddliest she’s ever been,” said Neas.

“The cat gets as much attention as she wants right now because we’re just so absolutely and utterly relieved to have her back.”