13 June 2023 , 14:01
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Plane passengers were treated to the company of a furry companion who suddenly appeared in the aisle mid-flight.
A video of the one-eyed feline getting loose in the cabin of a Delta flight and friendly with humans taking the same plane has melted the hearts of more than 1.4million TikTok users.
The sweet ginger cat can be seen sitting beneath a curtain at one end of the plane, seemingly quite relaxed about finding itself whizzing along up in the clouds.
The footage was posted to TikTok by Madison Flores with the caption “This one-eyed cat got out and I had to save it during take-off. Hero…”
In the 13-second clip, a flight attendant can be heard asking passengers: “Please send a call button or check your bag if your cat is not in your bag.”
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The sweet cat charmed passengers (stock photo) (Getty Images/iStockphoto)A Delta representative told Insider: “Everyone – including our feline friends – are required to remain seated while the aircraft is taxiing for takeoff.
“While our four-legged friend’s fun was short-lived, it now knows even the hippest of cats must remain in their carrier stowed under the seat in front of their owner.”
If you like the idea of being joined by a four-legged pal during a flight, then your best bet is to take a domestic US flight, where the rules about bringing pets onboard are much more relaxed than in the UK.
Delta, one of the biggest airlines in the US, allows pets so long as they're at least ten weeks old and are in a kennel or cage. It's important to note that cabin kennels count as one carry-on item.
In the UK an increasingly large number of pet owners are splashing out so their furry friends can travel in luxury.
K9 JETS lets owners and their pets clamber aboard a luxury Gulfstream jet that seats no more than ten passengers with their pets and takes off on routes between the East Coast of the US, London, Paris and Lisbon.
Tickets start at £7,100, which includes space for one human and their pet, as well as private terminal fees, luggage and all taxes.
While the service will mostly cater for the cats and dogs market, creatures including parrots and rabbits are welcomed, so long as all of their paperwork is in order.
K9 JETS was founded by Birmingham based executive assistant Kirsty and pilot Adam Golder, who also run more traditional private jet firm G6 AVIATION which generally caters for "high net worth families, music moguls, footballers, and royal families".
They spotted a gap in the market in 2022 amid to a surge in demand from pet owners relocating from the UK to the US and vice versa, who were terrified of condemning their mutts and moggies to commercial aircraft.
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Anna Baines, who does PR for K9 Jets, explained to the Mirror how the system works.
"The passengers form a group and share the cost of a private charter where dogs can sit by their owner’s lap or snooze by their feet, rather than subjecting their beloved pets to cargo in a commercial aircraft," she said.