Two men who hijacked a Turkish passenger plane surrendered to Turkish authorities after holding some crew members and passengers hostage for more than four hours.

The men claimed to be carrying a bomb and had demanded that the plane be diverted to Iran.

"The adventure that started early in the morning finally came to an end," said Tuncay Doganer, the CEO of Atlas-Jet. "With the two hijackers having surrendered, the incident ended with no bloodshed."

Most of the passengers had escaped the plane from the rear exit at Antalya airport while the hijackers were releasing the women and children. But the hijackers held some six crew and passengers for around four hours before allowing them to leave the plane and later surrendering to authorities.

The plane, which had taken off from northern Cyprus headed for Istanbul, landed at Antalya airport after pilots said they needed to refuel.

"All passengers and crew members are currently in the lounge of Antalya airport and all are well," Doganer said.

Turkish Cypriot authorities said the two hijackers were Iranians protesting against the policies of the US, but Turkish media said one of the hijackers was Turkish and the other was a Palestinian.

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