Aegean Airlines responds as furor over kitten’s disappearance gathers momentum

by AvioBlog · 12 Marzo 2024

Greek flag carrier Aegean Airlines has issued an unprecedented statement following the disappearance of a kitten on a flight from Chania Airport (CHQ) in Crete to Munich Airport (MUC) via Athens Airport (ATH).

According to the kitten’s owner, she arrived at CHQ on March 8, 2024, with Rodri safely in a carrier and checked the item in with airport staff, but when she went to see her pet in Athens, the carrier had been damaged.

Worse still, Rodri had managed to escape, due to a crack that had appeared at the top of the carrier, and was nowhere to be seen.

Staff explained that the carrier had arrived from Chania damaged, according to Rodri’s owner.

The search to find Rodri, who is blind in one eye, has gained momentum on social media and the owner has hit out at Aegean Airlines for its slow response in finding the kitten after four days without food or water.

On March 12, 2024, Aegean issued a statement explaining the steps it had taken to find Rodri and reunite him with his owner.

In the statement the airline said it was “deeply concerned” about the cat’s disappearance and is working with authorities and the airport staff to locate him.

“From the moment we realized that Rodri was missing, we swiftly launched extensive efforts, coordinating with airport authorities and deploying our dedicated airport personnel in search of the kitten. Despite our exhaustive attempts, we haven’t yet located Rodri, but we are fully committed to persisting in our search efforts,” a spokesperson for Aegean said.

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— Aegean Airlines (@aegeanairlines) March 12, 2024

The company added that the safety and wellbeing of all animals that travel with the airline are of the “upmost importance”, and it is looking into how the carrier was damaged.