Britain listed on board missing Egyptian passenger plane

The EgyptAir plane was 10 miles into Egyptian air space when it disappeared at 2.30am Cairo time (1.30am BST) after taking off just under three and a half hours earlier from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport.

Egyptian armed forces were preparing for a search and rescue effort and Greek authorities also joined the operation.

EgyptAir tweeted the nationalities of the passengers and confirmed that there were 30 Egyptians on board, 15 French, two Iraqis, and one each from Britain, Sudan, Chad, Portugal, Algeria, Canada, Belgium, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

The Foreign Office said it could not confirm that a Briton was on board.

A spokeswoman said: “Following reports that EgyptAir flight MS804 has gone missing en route from Paris to Cairo, we are in urgent contact with the authorities in Paris and Cairo to obtain further information.”

The French government said President Francois Hollande spoke with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi by telephone, and they agreed to “closely co-operate to establish the circumstances” in which the flight disappeared.

The written statement cited Mr Hollande as saying he shares the anxiety of families.

Flight MS804 left Charles De Gaulle Airport at 11.09pm Central European Summer Time (10.09pm BST).

The airline initially said said there were 59 passengers on board but later said there were 56, including one child and two babies.

Three EgyptAir security personnel were also on board as well as seven cabin crew members.