Turkish Airlines breaks daily passenger record despite laptop ban

ANKARA - Anadolu Agency

REUTERS photo

Turkish Airlines flew almost 180,000 passengers on March 26, marking the highest number of daily passengers the flag carrier has flown so far this year, CEO Bilal Ekşi stated on March 27.

“Some 179,871 passengers flew with us on Sunday [March 26] and we reached the highest number of daily passengers since January… Spring is coming,” Ekşi tweeted in Turkish.   

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

Last week, Ekşi told state-run Anadolu Agency that Turkish Airlines 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 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 countries, including Istanbul’s Atatürk 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.