Turkish Airlines breaks daily passenger record

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish Airlines flew almost 180,000 passengers on Sunday, marking the highest number of daily passengers the flag carrier has flown so far this year, according to CEO Bilal Eksi on Monday.

"We flew 179,871 passengers on Sunday (yesterday), and reached the highest number of daily passengers since January#spring is coming," Eksi tweeted in Turkish.

The record came less than a week after the U.S. and U.K. introduced bans on electronic devices as carry-ons in flights coming from certain countries including Turkey.

On Friday, Eksi told Anadolu Agency that they would implement new measures to keep passengers' electronic devices including laptops and tablets safe during flights to the two countries.

"The electronic devices will be received by an airline officer during the last check-in before boarding the aircraft and will be placed in a special shatterproof luggage after being wrapped in foam covers," he said.

"We guarantee that passengers’ devices will not be damaged or lost," he added.

On March 21, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said the restrictions would apply to flights from 10 foreign airports in eight Muslim-majority countries, including Istanbul’s Ataturk International Airport, the base of Turkish Airlines.

The U.K. later issued a similar ban on all flights from airports in Turkey, Lebanon, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Tunisia.