An EgyptAir plane was hijacked Tuesday morningand forced to land in Cyprus, Egyptian officials said.The plane was set for the short flight from Alexandria to Cairo,about 180 kilometers away.It landed instead at Larnaca airport in Cyprus,about 540 kilometers northeast.The hijacker, who held the plane and crew,threatened to blow up the plane, officials said.However, news sources said the hijacker saidhe wanted to speak to his former wife, who lives in Cyprus.The hijacker, identified as Seif el-Din Mustafa,later admitted that he did not have explosives.The president of Cyprus told local mediaa "domestic issue" was behind the hijacking.The hijacker's former wifewas brought by local police to the airport to meet with him.After the plane landed in Cyprus,video showed passengers walking down the plane stairsto a bus on the ground at Larnaca International Airport.Cyprus public television reportedthat the hijacker was a 27-year-old Egyptian.He asked for political asylum, it said.Just before his arrest,one man was seen climbing out of the cockpit windowand sliding down the side of the airplane.Egypt's civil aviation ministersaid security on the plane was goodand the hijacker had not been able to enter the cockpit.That prevented a more serious threat, he said.Egyptian TV showed video of a man going through a metal detectorand being searched at Alexandria Airport before getting on the plane.Last November, the Associated Press reportedthat the airport at Sharm el-Sheikh had "gaps," or holes, in security.Gaps include "a key baggage scanning device" that often is not working.The AP also said that "poorly paid policemenmonitoring X-ray machines" often take bribes.At that time, a spokesman for Egypt's Aviation Ministrydismissed the stories of poor security.He told AP that "Sharm el-Sheikh is one of the safest airports in the world."But, British Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin saidthat bag screening was insufficient at the airport.A retired senior official from Egypt's Tourism Ministrytold AP that airport guards regularly skip,or avoid, security checks for friends and co-workers.Tuesday's hijacking will most likely damage Egypt's important tourism industry.It has already suffered from years of political unrest and a growing terror threat.An Islamic State affiliate in the Sinai Peninsula in Octoberbrought down a Russian passenger jet with a bomb planted on board,killing all 224 people on board.