The world’s best-performing airline has been revealed

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Among the clouds over 2022, we’re finding silver linings. Some popular countries for tourism are relaxing entry restrictions, and the world’s safest and most punctual airlines have been revealed.

Here are the biggest new stories from CNN Travel.

How flying will change in 2022

New airline launches. Revamped airports. Aircraft deliveries. There’s a whole lot planned in aviation for the year ahead – as well as all the Covid-related challenges. Here’s what’s coming up.

While 2022 has got off to a rough start for travelers, be it cancellation chaos or unruly passengers holding a maskless in-flight party, one upside is that US domestic airfares are down 17% from this time in 2019.

An Asia-Pacific airline topped AirlineRatings.com’s annual list of the world’s safest airlines, beating out nearly 400 carriers worldwide.

And in this era of delays and hasty rescheduling, Delta Air Lines has been declared the best-performing carrier globally for operational excellence and punctuality. In its 2021 On-Time Performance Review, aviation data analyst Cirium praised its achievements “considering the complexity of the airline’s operation, volume of flights, diversity of its network and other key operational factors.”

All have moved to “Level 4: Covid-19 Very High,” which applies to destinations where more than 500 cases per 100,000 residents are registered in the past 28 days. More than 80 destinations are now at Level 4.

Bourdain’s ‘Parts Unknown’ is now a CNN podcast

One of CNN’s best-loved travel shows is now available as a podcast.

Starting in 2013, late chef and best-selling author Anthony Bourdain took us on extraordinary journeys to “Parts Unknown,” from beautiful temples in Myanmar to meals shared with trailblazers on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

Now you can revisit your favorite episodes from “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown” from your podcast feed. Episodes from the series are added each Monday.

The United Kingdom and Ireland are easier to visit

London —

The UK has seen a staycation explosion during Covid-19, leaving some areas overwhelmed. There are still plenty of options though. Here are some of England's most beautiful locations:

Wasdale Valley, Cumbria —

At 978 meters, Scafell Pike isn't only the highest mountain in England, it also offers the best views of the unspoiled Wasdale Valley and Wastwater -- the deepest lake in England. On a clear day Scotland, Wales, Ireland and the Isle of Man can be seen from the hilltops.

Lake Windermere, Cumbria —

Windermere, 10.5 miles (17 kilometers) long and 219 feet (67 meters) deep, is England's largest lake. Part of the scenic Lake District National Park, its small cruise boats welcome more than 1.2 million visitors each year.
Lake Windermere, Lake District National Park, Cumbria

Royal Pavilion, Brighton —

The southern seaside town of Brighton has its own eccentric answer to the Taj Mahal. Built for King George IV, the 193-year-old Royal Pavilion is now open to the public as a museum. It houses an ice rink from November to January each year.

Salisbury Cathedral, Wiltshire —

Standing only 13 kilometers from Stonehenge, Salisbury Cathedral in Wiltshire is one of England's most beautiful churches. The structure, built between 1220 and 1258, has Britain's tallest spire -- 332 steps to the top of the tower -- and Europe's oldest working clock.

Yorkshire Dales, Yorkshire —

The rolling landscapes of the Yorkshire Dales showcase stunning variety of features from waterfalls to caves to limestone pavements. Hikers can challenge themselves to the Three Peaks Walks, a trek to summit a trio of tough climbs, covering 38.6 kilometers, within 12 hours.

Minnis Bay, Kent —

Let's face it -- England isn't the most sought-after beach destination. That said, some 58 beaches around England have been awarded the internationally recognized Blue Flag, recognizing cleanliness and good facilities. With colorful beach huts, Minnis Bay (pictured) in the Kent village of Birchington-on-Sea, is one of them.

Port Isaac, Cornwall —

Port Isaac is a small scenic fishing village in the northern part of Cornwall. It's also the birthplace of Fisherman's Friends, a singing group that specializes in sea shanties -- another reason to love the place.

Durdle Door, Jurassic Coast —

Some rocks and fossils found in the Jurassic Coast, covering southern England's Dorset and East Devon, are 185 million years old. It's England's first natural World Heritage Site. Durdle Door (pictured here) is an iconic natural limestone arch on the beach.

The British Museum, London —

Founded in 1753, The British Museum was the world's first national public museum. Today, it's still easily one of the best galleries around the globe. It has a collection of eight million pieces -- only 1% of which is on display. The signature Grand Court was designed by Norman Foster and was opened in 2000.

Sutton Bank, North York Moors —

Sutton Bank is where the heather-clad North York Moors give way to gorgeous views over the pancake-flat Vale of York. It's one of the three Dark Sky Discovery Sites in the area for star-gazing.

Stourhead, Wiltshire —

With neo-classical temples, grottoes and bridges built around the lake, the 18th century Stourhead estate is a perfect example of an English landscape garden.

The Needles Rocks, Isle of Wight —

The Needles are three isolated rocks (a forth needle-shaped rock, which gave the group its name, collapsed in 1764) in a line off the coast of the Isle of Wight. One of the best ways to see them is from a chairlift in the nearby Alum Bay.

Hadrian's Wall —

Hadrian's Wall spans 135 kilometers from Maryport in the west to Tyne and Wear in the east. The UNESCO World Heritage Site was built to keep tribal warriors out of the northern frontier of the ancient Roman Empire. In the picture is a section of the Roman wall near Housesteads Fort in Northumberland.

Stonehenge, Wiltshire —

Yes, they're much smaller than everyone thinks they're going to be, but they're still the best known cluster of rocks in Britain. We can't be sure if Stonehenge really was the first Ikea-style flat pack, but the prehistoric monument never ceases to surprise. Last year, some more and larger stone monuments, dubbed "Superhenge," were discovered less than three kilometers from the site.

Corby Crags, Northumberland —

Corby Crags' landscape is so stunning that it was used as a backdrop of Middle Earth in the "The Hobbit" movie poster in 2012. Corby Crags lies in Edlingham, a small village with 196 residents.

York City Wall, North Yorkshire —

At 3.4 kilometers, York has England's longest medieval city wall. The well-preserved fortification makes a picturesque two-hour trail around the heritage city.

Painswick, Cotswolds —

With rolling green fields and charming villages, Cotswolds is the largest of the 38 designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty in England and Wales. Painswick (in the picture) is one of area's historic towns.

Tintagel Castle, Cornwall —

Legend says Tintagel Castle, a medieval structure on a rugged coastline of North Cornwall, is the birthplace of King Arthur. Below the castle is Tintagel Beach with emerald water and Merlin's Cave, a hiding place for infant Arthur in poet Alfred Lord Tennyson's "Idylls of the King."

Bath, Somerset —

The Somerset city of Bath was inscribed a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. It's known for its Roman baths -- the only place in England for a natural thermal spa -- and Georgian architecture.

Cheddar Gorge, Somerset —

As the biggest gorge in Britain, Cheddar Gorge is home to some of the country's most dramatic cliffs and rarest animals -- like ancient Soay sheep. It's listed as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

St. Mawes Castle, Cornwall —

A sea fort constructed by Henry VIII in the 1540s, St. Mawes Castle offered protection to the waterway of the River Fal until it surrendered to a land attack during the English Civil War. It's regarded as the best preserved fort built by Henry VIII.

Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Gateshead —

The coolest bridge in England? Costing £22 million ($31.7 million), the pedestrian Gateshead Millennium Bridge connecting Newcastle and Gateshead across the River Tyne is the world's first tilting bridge, capable of leaning upwards to allow ships to navigate underneath. This website lists its tilting schedule.

Dover Castle, Kent —

This beautiful hillside castle was built by King Henry II in the 1180s. In 2015 alone, Dover Castle was featured in two TV and movie productions: "Avengers: Age of Ultron" and BBC's "Wolf Hall." In the cliffs underneath the castle lie a network of secret WWII tunnels and an underground hospital.

Abbey Garden, Tresco, Isles Of Scilly —

Abbey Garden is a tropical-style paradise with plant species from more than 80 countries -- from Brazil to South Africa to Australia. The wild garden experiment began when Augustus Smith moved to and became the owner of Tresco Island, 28 miles off the coast of southwestern Cornwall in 1834. The garden has continued to expand with the help of Smith's descendants.

Haworth Moor, West Yorkshire —

Top Withins (pictured here) is a ruined site on Haworth Moor. It's said that the wild moorland inspired Emily Bronte's "Wuthering Heights" when the Bronte sisters lived here.

Rievaulx Abbey, North Yorkshire —

Back in the 12th century, to visitors in mid-2016. Rievaulx Abbey was one of the largest and wealthiest monasteries in England. A brand new museum, a shop and a tearoom will be open to visitors in mid-2016.

Brompton Cemetery, London —

The gothic-style Brompton Cemetery on Fulham Road is one of London's most famous cemeteries. The cemetery has appeared in multiple movies including Pierce Brosnan's first Bond outing "GoldenEye." It's also the home to the mysterious tombstone of Hannah Courtoys -- read London's coolest gravestones to find out more.

Bullring Shopping Centre, Birmingham —

An alien spaceship? Or a deep-sea creature? This futuristic landmark is the facade of a Selfridges department store in Birmingham. The building, covered in aluminum discs, is part of the city's beloved Bullring shopping center.

Castle Combe, Wiltshire —

Considered one of the prettiest villages in England, Castle Combe welcomed a spark of interest from tourists after it was used as a filming location for Steven Spielberg's "War Horse" in 2011.

Buckingham Palace, Westminster, London —

Parts of Queen Elizabeth's official residence are open to visitors at certain times of the year and special guided tours are held occasionally.
MORE: Sneak preview as Queen opens Buckingham Palace to public

England's most beautiful destinations

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Covid cases are spiking in the UK and Ireland, but with Omicron now the dominant variant on both islands, the governments of all five nations took the decision this week to relax their entry restrictions.

Ireland and England were the first to announce that they were removing the requirement for pre-departure PCR tests for fully vaccinated inbound travelers, followed later by the UK nations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

It’s a policy of why shut the gate when the horse has bolted?

Wales “reluctantly agreed” to the move, expressing concern about the speed of reopening international travel and the possibility of importing new variants and adding strain to the nation’s health services.

Hate to make a ‘plain sailing’ pun, but …

Cruising has hit choppy waters.

On December 30, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention increased the risk level for cruise ship travel to its highest category and said it should be avoided, regardless of vaccination status.

And now this week, a Covid outbreak hit the Mediterranean cruise ship MSC Grandiosa, Norwegian Cruise Line canceled voyages on eight ships and thousands were held on Royal Caribbean’s Spectrum of the Seas in Hong Kong after a Covid scare prompted authorities to order the ship to return to port.

CDC warns against one Caribbean getaway

In its first update of travel advisories for 2022, the CDC added only one new destination – the Caribbean island of Aruba – to its highest-risk “Level 4” category.

It’s not much of a slowdown, but we’ll take it. Here is what’s required to travel to 9 of the most popular Caribbean islands.

Four destinations across Europe and Asia moved down from Level 4 to Level 3 – none of them major tourism big-hitters – while Costa Rica, a Central American favorite, moved down from Level 3 to Level 2.

The landlocked West African country of Niger had the biggest drop of all, going all the way from high-risk Level 4 to “Level 1: Covid-19 Low,” a category reserved for destinations where fewer than 50 new cases per 100,000 residents have been logged over the past 28 days.

Take comfort from soup

Banga | Nigeria: We'll start our world tour of the tastiest soups with banga. It hails from West Africa's largest nation, Nigeria. Fruits from the oil palm tree flavor the soup, which also features fresh catfish, beef and dried seafood. Click through the gallery for photos of 19 more mouthwatering soups from around the world:

Beef pho (phở bò) | Vietnam: Beef is simmered for hours with cinnamon, star anise and other warm spices to create a wonderfully aromatic base for this rice noodle soup.

Borscht | Ukraine: Borscht is anything but basic beet soup. It gets a tangy kick from kvass, a lacto-fermented beet juice.

Bouillabaisse | France: Saffron, olive oil, fennel, garlic and tomatoes blend with fish fresh from the sea in Bouillabaisse, a dish synonymous with the coastal city of Marseille.

Caldo verde | Portugal: This rustic soup blends thinly sliced greens with potatoes and onions for a hearty meal. In many versions, tender Portuguese chouriço sausage is added.

Chorba frik | Algeria, Libya and Tunisia: Tender wheat grains absorb a tomato broth and aromatic spices, their flavor combining with chickpeas plus stewed chicken, beef, mutton or lamb.

Chupe de Camarones | Peru: This creamy shrimp chowder with potatoes and corn gets a kick from the addition of ají amarillo, a chili pepper.

Gazpacho | Spain: The residents of Andalusia, Spain, use this cold tomato-based soup to cope with their scorching hot summers.

Groundnut soup | West Africa: Enjoy meat, fish or chicken simmered in a thick peanut soup that's pure comfort food in nations from The Gambia to Nigeria.

Gumbo | United States: A star of Louisiana cuisine, gumbo is influenced by West African, Native Choctaw and French cuisines. Versions made with seafood, chicken and sausage are among the most popular.

Harira | Morocco: These are traditional bowls of Moroccan hariri, a chickpea-based delight flavored with cinnamon, ginger, turmeric and pepper.

Kharcho | Georgia: What's the secret behind this delicious soup of fatty beef and ground walnuts from the nation of Georgia? It's a tart plum sauce called tkemali.

Lanzhou beef noodle soup | China: Hand-pulled la mian noodles anchor a bowl of beef broth that includes tender beef, pale slices of radish, chili oil and fresh herbs.

Mohinga | Myanmar: This noodle soup with fish is aromatic -- and it's often made for breakfast.

Menudo | Mexico: This traditional Mexican soup is made with tripe (cow stomach) and hominy in a garlicky broth.

Moqueca de camarão | Brazil: If you love shrimp, you'll have to sample this coconut broth soup tinted with palm oil and tomatoes.

Soto ayam | Indonesia: This is chicken noodle soup with an Indonesian twist. Fresh turmeric, star anise, cinnamon, lemongrass and lime leaves combine for deeply layered flavor, with soft-boiled eggs adding extra richness.

Tom yum goong | Thailand: Hitting major taste sensations -- sweet, sour, spicy and salty -- this soup's broth is the ideal environment for sweet, tender shrimp or other seafood.

Tonkotsu ramen | Japan: Long-simmered pork bones impart intense flavor to this classic ramen, whose broth is cloudy with marrow and fat.

Yayla çorbasi | Turkey: Some Turkish hospitals serve this creamy yogurt soup to recovering patients.

See mouthwatering photos of the world's tastiest soups

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In case you missed it

Hot, tasty, soothing – and you don’t even need to chew. Might a bowl of soup just be the ultimate comfort food? Here are 20 of the world’s best soups – from Mexico to Thailand and beyond.

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China’s longest underwater highway tunnel has opened.

It cost $1.56 billion and took nearly four years to build.

These new hotels are on our wish list for 2022.

We’re talking gold-roofed pools and ski-in, ski-out access.

John Walton, Marnie Hunter, Tamara Hardingham-Gill, Francesca Street, Livia Borghese, Teele Rebane, Forrest Brown, Jen Rose Smith, Yong Xiong, Karla Cripps and Kris Fordham contributed to this report.