The two men who hijacked a plane from Libya to Malta surrendered and the 118 passengers and crew are safe, Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat confirmed in Valletta tonight.

"Hijackers surrendered, searched and taken in custody," Muscat tweeted shortly after all 111 passengers and seven crew members were released and taken to safety.

Broadcast footage showed the two men leaving the aircraft and lying on the ground before being arrested by soldiers.

The Afriqiyah Airways A320 jet was on an internal flight from Sebha to Tripoli in Libya but was forced to divert to the Mediterranean island of Malta.

Women and children were among the first 25 passengers to be released, followed by another batch of 25 passengers and then the others.

The 111 passengers included 82 men, 28 women and one infant, Muscat said earlier.

The two hijackers had threatened to blow up the plane and were armed with hand grenades, according to Malta's state television and Libyan media.

It landed in Malta at 6.32pm Malaysian time today.

The plane's captain informed the control tower that the hijackers were threatening to blow it up with a home-made explosive device, the independent Libyan portal Alwasat reported, without citing a source.

Libya's UN-backed government confirmed the hijacking of the plane and its forced diversion to Malta, Libya's state news agency Lana reported.

One of the hijackers had claimed to be a supporter of Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan autocrat who was overthrown and killed in 2011.

Libya descended into chaos after Gaddafi's ouster in an armed revolt. The oil-rich country is divided between two rival administrations: One backed by the UN in Tripoli and the other in the eastern city of Tobruk.

Last week, the Tripoli government announced regaining full control of the Mediterranean Sea city of Sirte from Islamic State, ending a military campaign that started there against the radical militia in May.

- dpa