Turkish Airlines has reported a six percent rise in air cargo revenue in 2016 to US$996 million. Some US$600 million was derived from passenger operations and US$396 million from all-cargo services. The increase was recognized with Turkish Cargo being awarded the 'Fastest Growing International Cargo Airline of the Year' at Air Cargo Africa 2017. Chief Cargo Officer Turhan Ozen noted: "Thanks to our dedicated efforts, we have been able to grow rapidly in recent years and become the 11th largest airline company in the African cargo market. "I sincerely thank all Turkish Airlines employees who have contributed to this success. Our goal is to increase our growth rate even further, and enter the year 2020 as one of the top five air cargo companies in the African market," he added. In a related move, the airline is to begin direct flights from Istanbul to Voronezh and Samara in Russia from April this year. The company will operate three flights a week to Voronezh and Samara respectively beginning April 04 and April 11. Turkish Airlines reported a gross profit of US$1.136 billion on revenue of US$9.792 billion for 2016 and ended the year with cash and cash equivalents of US$1.466 billion, up from US$900 million in 2015.