World's top airports make child's play of travelling with the family

FLIGHT SURVEY:"AIRPORT" and "child-friendly" are two words that most parents wouldn't put together.

In Israel last week a three-year-old child was left behind when his parents made a mad dash to board a flight to Paris with their 18 pieces of luggage and four other children. This is not a rare event at Ben-Gurion Airport, where two other children were also left behind by their families in separate incidents last month.

If you've ever travelled with young children, you'll understand how this might happen. Long waits for flights, infuriating queues and bored children don't go together. Unless, that is, you've chosen to fly into one of the world's top child-friendly airports, listed in the Kids Airport Diversion Guide on Cheapflights.com.

Singapore Changi International Airport has a napping centre, a swimming pool, a fitness centre, roof gardens and koi-stocked ponds, as well as a 24-hour cinema and a PlayStation centre.

Boston's Logan Airport has a "Kidport" and a branch of the Children's Museum of Boston, with hands-on exhibits.

Dallas/Fort Worth boasts an aviation-themed play area with its own runway, aircraft and control tower. Baltimore Washington International has an observation gallery with an array of aircraft parts and play equipment.

Toronto Pearson International has "comfy cars" so that children don't have to walk, and Paris-Charles De Gaulle has little ones' play areas, arcades and TV rooms with beanbags.

Even awkward London Heathrow gets a mention for its two play areas, especially the Jetterz Kids Club in Terminal 3 (Terminal 4 has the KLM Holideck Family Lounge).

Needless to say, Dublin Airport doesn't make the list.

The US Department of Homeland Security, meanwhile, is offering parents flying to and within the US advice on how to prepare their children for the airport experience. It suggests that parents coach their children not to say "I have a bomb in my bag." The wise parent may regard such coaching as a guarantee that the child will repeat the words at the first security checkpoint. Best take this one with a grain of salt.