By Jeyhun Aliyev
ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's national flag carrier Turkish Airlines started flights from Istanbul to the southern Russian city of Krasnodar on Monday, according to a company announcement.
"Turkish Airlines, which flies to the most countries in the world, has added Krasnodar to its flight network as its 303rd destination," the air carrier said.
Krasnodar is Turkish Airlines’ 10th destination in Russia, following flights to Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Rostov, Kazan, Ekaterinburg, Voronezh, Samara, and Ufa, the statement read.
"We are glad to launch flights to Krasnodar,’’ said Ahmet Olmustur, chief marketing officer of Turkish Airlines.
The airline announced that Istanbul-Krasnodar flights will be offered five times a week in both directions.
"With the flights that we launched to Krasnodar, we have introduced Turkish Airlines’ quality and service concept to this beautiful city," Olmustur added.
Turkey's flag carrier currently has 328 aircraft and flies to 303 destinations -- 254 international and 49 domestic.
It was chosen as the Best Airline in Europe by Skytrax for six years in a row between 2011 and 2016, and the Best Airline in Southern Europe for the ninth consecutive time in 2017.
Last year the airline increased its total number of passengers by 9.3 percent, year-on-year, to reach 68.6 million, the company announced in January.