(Bloomberg) -- A passenger falsely claiming he was armed withexplosives hijacked an EgyptAir plane carrying 71 other people andforced it to land in Cyprus, casting new doubts on Egypt’s abilityto revive desperately needed tourism.

The hijacker, an Egyptian national, released most of the otherpassengers and crew before surrendering to authorities at theairport in Larnaca. None of the people aboard the plane was harmedduring the seven-hour ordeal, Cypriot authorities said.

7-hour ordeal

“It’s over,” the Foreign Ministry said on its Twitteraccount. Cypriot Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides said thehijacker wore a belt with telephone covers that looked likeexplosive devices but wasn’t carrying actual explosives. PresidentNicos Anastasiades ruled out terrorism as a motive.

Cyprus’s Rik TV said the hijacker had asked that a letter bedelivered to his ex-wife, who lives in Cyprus. She was taken to theairport to speak with him, Kasoulides said.

The hijacking dealt a new blow to Egypt’s efforts to project animage of stability to tourists and investors five months after aRussian passenger crashed in the Sinaipeninsula in a suspected bombing claimed by IslamicState. Militant attacks have surged since 2013, though most havebeen centered in north Sinai.

“Even if recent developments confirm that this is not aterrorist attack, but rather an asylum-seeker who wants to join hisex-wife, this raises further concerns about security” at Egyptianairports, Kinda Chebib, lead analyst at Euromonitor International,said in e-mailed comments.

Egyptian authorities hired consultancy Control Risks Group to review airport security afterthe downing of the Russian plane.

The hijacker reportedly asked for a translator and soughtpolitical asylum shortly before giving himself up. Kasoulides saidthe man requested fuel to fly to Turkey and that he asked to speakto a European Union representative.

Egypt's struggling economy

Egypt’s economy has struggled since the 2011 uprising that toppledformer President Hosni Mubarak. The pound has slumped in the blackmarket and capital outflows have left businesses starved of dollarsto import raw materials. A slight recovery in its crucial tourismindustry was cut short by the Russian plane crash.

EgyptAir, one of the oldest airlines in the Middle East and amember of Star Alliance, has incurred cumulative losses of about $1billion since the Egyptian revolution began in 2011. The carrierhas a fleet of about 80 aircraft with a target to expand to 125planes.

--With assistance from Ahmed Feteha, Salma El Wardany, MarcoBertacche, Eleni Chrepa and Georgios Georgiou.

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