CAIRO (REUTERS) - Egyptian security has found nothing suspicious on board a passenger plane that was held up for searches at Cairo airport on Thursday afternoon following a bomb threat, security sources said.

The EgyptAir plane had been due to depart for Istanbul at 1.55pm (6.55pm Singapore time) but was halted after the threat was passed on to Egyptian authorities by a foreign embassy, the sources said.

The passengers were evacuated and the plane isolated while the search was conducted. Security sources said the checks had been completed and nothing suspicious had been found.

Egypt is under pressure to bolster airport security after a Russian plane crashed in late October in the Sinai, killing all 224 passengers on board and damaging the country's tourism industry.

Egypt has hired global consultancy Control Risks to review security at its airports.

The Egyptian-led investigation team says it has found no evidence so far of terrorism or other illegal action linked to the October crash, but Russia said in November that the jet was brought down by a bomb.

Islamic State, the militant group that has seized swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria, claimed responsibility and said it had smuggled a bomb on board hidden in a soft drink can.