EgyptAir confirmed that all the hostages have been released, saying: “Officialsources at EgyptAir declared the release of all the hostages and the arrest ofthe hijacker.”

Cyprus government spokesman Nikos Christodoulides also confirmed the end of the hijacking, tweeting: “The hijacker has just been arrested.”

A number of Britons and an Irish national are thought to have been aboard the flight.

Almost all of the passengers were released soon after the plane landed at Larnaca airport, shortly before 9am on Tuesday.

It was claimed the man was wearing a suicide vest. Egyptian ministers were unable to confirm the report but said they were treating it as a “real threat”.

A motive for the hijacking remains unclear, but Cyprus president Nicos Anastasiades said it was “not something which has to do with terrorism”.

Some reports suggested the incident was related to the hijacker’s ex-wife, while others reported that he was asking for the release of political prisoners in Egypt.

Earlier:

A man claiming he was wearing a suicide belt has hijacked a passenger plane during a flight in Egypt and forced it to land in Cyprus, where a number of “foreigners” are being held hostage.

The EgyptAir plane was taken over by at least one armed man while flying from Alexandria on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast to the capital Cairo. The plane landed at Larnaca airport where negotiations have led to the release of most of the passengers.

Cypriot president Nicos Anastasiades has said the Egyptian plane hijacking is not related to terrorism and that it was “all to do with a woman”.

Seven people – the captain and his aide, one stewardess, one security officer and three passengers – remain on the EgyptAir plane with the hijacker, according to Egypt’s civil aviation minister.

Among the passengers were 26 foreigners, including eight Americans, four Britons, four Dutch, two Belgians, an Italian, a French national, two Greeks and one Syrian, the director of the Alexandria airport said.

There have been differing reports over the reason for hijacking the plane – with some saying the man wanted to claim asylum on the Mediterranean island and others claiming he was motivated by love and had written a letter to his Cypriot wife from who he is estranged.

According to The Guardian, an official at Egypt’s ministry of foreign affairs said: “He’s not a terrorist, he’s an idiot. Terrorists are crazy but they aren’t stupid. This guy is.”

The hijacker has been named by Cyprus’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Seif Eldin Mustafa.

The #hijacker of #MS181 is Seif Eldin Mustafa. The situation is still ongoing.

— Cyprus MFA (@CyprusMFA) March 29, 2016

A veterinarian, Ibrahim Samaha, who was earlier named by Egyptian authorities as the hijacker has denied involvement. He told the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire programme: “I was not the hijacker, I was simply a passenger on that plane and I was released alongside other passengers and had absolutely nothing to do with hijacking the plane.”

An Egyptian woman also said her husband, named Ibrahim Samaha, is not the hijacker and was on his way to Cairo en route to the United States to attend a conference.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office could not confirm whether any Britons were among the passengers, saying: “We are in contact with the Cypriot and Egyptian authorities after a hijacked plane landed in Cyprus.”

Flights are being diverted away from Larnaca airport as a result of the hijacking, and the Foreign Office urged anyone travelling to the country to contact their airline or travel company.