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Travel roundup: Three bits of hot travel news.

IN THE AIR

Operating a cellphone while a plane is landing can indeed pose a danger, as a 15-year-old boy found out on a flight from Las Vegas to Boise, Idaho. Despite an announcement to turn off electronic devices, the boy continued to play games and listen to music on his iPhone. No, the plane didn't crash, but there were consequences. The man across the aisle, 68-year-old Russell Miller, punched the teenager on his arm. Mr. Miller also faces consequences: When the plane landed, police charged him with misdemeanour battery.

AT THE AIRPORT

If you like having people shepherd you through airports, you are in the minority. Air transport technology company SITA and Air Transport World magazine interviewed 2,490 passengers at seven major international airports about their airport preferences. The survey indicated that 70 per cent of passengers would tag their own bags if they could. A similar percentage would use automatic boarding gates. And two-thirds of respondents said they would feel comfortable using a kiosk to report a missing bag.

ON THE GROUND

Despite a two-year campaign aimed at cleaning up Singapore's 30,000 public washrooms, the city-state's Restroom Association says only 500 meet its minimum standards: a litter- and odour-free environment, working equipment and basic amenities such as toilet paper and soap. It wants 70 per cent to be at least three-star by 2013. To publicize its goal, the association has opened LOO@Heartlands, the country's only coffee shop with a five-star washroom.

Sources: The Canadian Press, SITA, Reuters

Special to The Globe and Mail

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