EgyptAir hijacker surrenders after plane lands in Cyprus

The hijacking of a domestic EgyptAir flight from Alexandria that was forced to land at Larnaca airport in Cyprus early on Tuesday has ended with one man being arrested, officials said.

The flight departed from Burj El Arab airport in Alexandria en route to Cairo. A man took over the flight claiming he was wearing an explosive suicide belt, later found to be a fake.

Negotiations with the hijacker resulted in the safe release of all passengers and crew. A man was later seen leaving the aircraft and detained by Cypriot security services. There were no injuries.

Egypt’s ministry of civil aviation said the flight, MS181 - operated by a narrowbody Airbus A320 - had at least 81 people on board when it left Alexandria.

The hijacking comes months after the bombing of Metrojet flight 9268 over Sinai in October, as it made its way between Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt and Pulkovo, Russia.