Tuesday 29 March 2016 7:33 am

All hostages released from EgyptAir MS181 in Larnaca, Cyprus as hijacker arrested

All the hostages have been released unharmed from Egypt Air flight MS181, and authorities have arrested the hijacker.

"It's over," said Cyprus' ministry of foreign affairs.

Its over. The #hijacker arrested. #LarnacaAirport # Egyptair

— Cyprus MFA (@CyprusMFA) March 29, 2016

The flight, bound from Alexandria's Borg El Arab for Cairo, was diverted to Cyprus' Lanarca Airport after a man claiming to be wearing an explosives belt, forced the pilot to re-route the plane.

Cypriot authorities have since determined that the belt was fake.

Earlier in the day, Cyprus state TV reported that the hijacker, identified as an Egyptian national named as Seif Eldin Mustafa, "just wants to deliver a message to his ex-wife", who is Cypriot.

There were originally 55 passengers on board, including eight Americans, four Britons, two Belgians, one Italian, four Dutch and 30 Egyptians, according to a spokesperson for Alexandria's Borg El Arab Airport.

By around 11:45am, all but eight people – including three passengers – had been released.

An EGYPTAIR official declared that 3 passengers, the pilot, co-pilot and 3 cabin crew members in addition to the hijacker are still onboard.

— EGYPTAIR (@EGYPTAIR) March 29, 2016

Update: the concerned departments are working on issuing the landing authorization for an aircraft to depart from Cairo Airport to Larnaca.

— EGYPTAIR (@EGYPTAIR) March 29, 2016

We are investigating reports about a possible hijack of EgyptAir flight #MS181 that landed at Larnaca, Cyprus. pic.twitter.com/WdwTIYEwxF

— Aviation Safety Network (ASN) (@AviationSafety) March 29, 2016