A Maine coon cat named Mittens clocked up some serious air miles this month after being left on an Air New Zealand flight and accidentally flown to Australia and back. Mittens’ owner, Margo Neas, described the events as “both distressing and unacceptable” after paying $1948 to have her feline flown to Australia.

Air New Zealand was once again named the safest full-service airline in the world for 2025, holding on to the title for a second straight year.

Mittens was flown three times between New Zealand and Australia after being forgotten in a plane's cargo hold.

Solomons national carrier – Solomon Airlines (IE, Honiara) will begin operating on the Auckland International-Brisbane International city pair from February 21, 2025. The airline will use an A320-200 to operate the weekly roundtrip.

According to Sharon Petersen, the CEO of AirlineRatings.com, while Air New Zealand came in first place for the world’s safest full-service airline, it was a pretty close race. There was only a 1.5-point difference between that airline and Qantas, which both “uphold the highest safety standards and pilot training,” as noted by Petersen.

Discover why Air New Zealand has been named the world's safest airline for 2025 by AirlineRatings.com, leading the industry with cutting-edge safety standards and a modern fleet.

The eight-year-old feline was booked for one-way travel with her family from Christchurch, New Zealand to their new home in Melbourne, Australia ... 7.5 hours in the air. “I said, how can ...

Air New Zealand again edged out Qantas in a ranking for the world’s safest airlines to fly in 2025. Using its own seven-star rating system, Australia-based website AirlineRatings analysed data on everything from recent incidents to audits and ...