Hijacker wearing suicide vest forces EgyptAir jet carrying 62 people to land in Cyprus

An Egyptian passenger plane has made an emergency landing on Cyprus after being hijacked by a man wearing a suicide vest.

EgyptAir MS181 was en-route from Alexandria to Cairo when it requested permission to make an emergency landing at Larnaca Airport on Cyprus.

At least one man on the plane, carrying 62 people, is believed to be armed, and explosives have been found onboard, Cypriot officials said.

At least one man on the plane, carrying 62 people, is believed to be armed, and explosives have been found.

Emergency landing: The Egypt Air jet was en-route from Alexandria to Cairo when it was reportedly hijacked.

The hijacking of the plane, carrying 55 passengers and a crew of seven, was confirmed by EgyptAir on Twitter at 7.40am GMT.

The plane diverted to Cyprus after a man on the flight threatened to detonate an explosives belt, Egypt's civil aviation authority said.

Hijackers demanded that authorities leave the runway 'in order to release women and children passengers', who have now begun disembarking, former EU Commissioner for Education, Androulla Vassiliou, tweeted.

After leaving Alexandria (bottom left), the plane was diverted from it's route to Cairo.

One armed hijacker took control of the Airbus A320 at 8.30am (6.30am GMT), police spokesman Andreas Angelides said.

The hijacking occurred in Cyprus's flight information region and the airliner was diverted to Larnaca, where the plane currently sits on the runway.

The passenger flight requested permission to make an emergency landing at Larnaca Airport on Cyprus.

Hijackers demanded that authorities leave the runway 'in order to release women and children passengers'.

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