By Tuba Sahin
ANKARA (AA) - Turkish Airlines on Tuesday began direct flights from Istanbul to Voronezh, a Russian destination 470 kilometers (290 miles) south of the capital, Moscow.
"With existing services to Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Rostov, Kazan, Ekaterinburg, Ufa and Stavropol, Turkish Airlines has now added Voronezh to its expanding Russian network," the airline said in a statement.
The flights will operate three times a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, the company said.
Turkey's flag carrier currently has 337 aircraft and flies to 298 destinations -- 249 international and 49 domestic.
Turkish Airlines was chosen as "Europe's Best Airline" for the sixth time and the "Best Airline in Southern Europe" for the eighth consecutive time in the 2016 Skytrax survey.
The airline increased its total number of passengers by 2.5 percent year-on-year to reach 62.8 million in 2016, according to a stock exchange filing report published on Jan. 11.