EgyptAir said negotiations had meant the majority of passengers have been released, but seven people -including three passengers, the captain, co-pilot, an air hostess and a security official remain onboard.

The civil aviation minister refused to reveal the nationalities of the passengers.

Egyptian media reported the hijacker to be university professor Ibrahim Samaha, aged in his forties, who is making political demands, while asking for a translator.

He was believed to be a professor of veterinary medicine at Alexandria University in Egypt.

However Samaha has spoken out to say he was in fact a passenger and has now been freed.

The hijacker is making demands about his estranged wife.

Cypriot media said the professor threw a letter, written in Arabic, on to the tarmac of the airport after demanding it be sent to his ex-wife who lives in Lanarca.

She is reportedly being brought to the airport to negotiate with him.

The woman lives in the village of Oroklini, close to the airport.

Amid reports it is a "domestic dispute", Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades confirmed the Egypt plane hijacking was not related to "terrorism."

He added: "We are doing our utmost in order for everyone to be released and safe and to give an end to this unprecedented incident.

"In any case it is not something which has to do with terrorism."

The Foreign Ministry said "he is not a terrorist, but an idiot".

However Dr Sajjan Gohel, security and counter-terrorism analyst at the Asia-Pacific Foundation, warned terror groups could be watching to see how the situation is handled.

The director of the Alexandria Airport, Hossni Hassan, said at the time of the hijacking there were 26 foreigners on board, including eight Americans, four Britons, four Dutch, two Belgians, a French national, an Italian, two Greeks and one Syrian.

The other foreigners have not been identified.

Pictures of the alleged hijacker inside the jet are circulating on social media after they appeared on Egyptian television.

The image has not yet been confirmed by an official agency.

Conflicting reports also suggest Samaha ordered the pilot to fly to Istanbul in Turkey, but the plane landed in Lanarca instead because there wasn't sufficent fuel.

Israel scrambled warplanes in its airspace as a precaution in response to the hijacking, an Israeli military source said.

Foreign Ministry Permanent Secretary Alexandros Zeno said: "The information we have so far is that it is one hijacker."

The hijacker demanded police vehicles move away from the aircraft.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has not yet confirmed whether any of the Britons on board were the ones being held captive.

A spokesperson said: "We are in contact with the Cypriot and Egyptian authorities after a hijacked plane landed in Cyprus."

Emergency services and a crisis team are on standby at the airport.

The hijacker allowed women and children of Egyptian origin to disembark the plane.

EgyptAir has tweeted to confirm reports, saying: "Our flight MS181 is officially hijacked. we'll publish an official statement now. #Egyptair"

The air company's website is also down.

Egypt's airport security has been under the spotlight for many months after a Russian Airbus crashed in the Sinai desert, killing all 224 passengers and crew, after it was brought down by a bomb onboard.

The country's vital tourism industry was already reeling after the evil Islamic State (ISIS) claimed responsibility for the crash last October.

EyptAir says those within Egypt can call their emergency centre at 0800 77 77 000, while those living abroad can call +20 2 259 893 2029.