UK investigators looking at what caused a Russian airliner to crash in Egypt believe a bomb was put in the hold prior to take-off, the BBC has learned.
The British government suspended all flights to and from the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh two days ago.
It had received intelligence based on intercepted communications between militants in the Sinai Peninsula.
However, both Egypt and Russia have said it is too early to draw conclusions.
The Metrojet Airbus A321 was flying from Sharm el-Sheikh to St Petersburg when it came down in Sinai on Saturday, killing all 224 people on board. Most of the victims were Russian.
Thousands of holidaymakers, 19,000 from the UK, remain stranded in Sharm el-Sheikh.
Many Britons were due to return on Friday but one of the main airlines operating from the resort, Easyjet, says its plans have been sharply curtailed by the Egyptian authorities, with only two of its 10 flights leaving.
Egyptian Aviation Minister Hossam Kamal denied banning any flights, but said there was an issue of "capacity" at the airport, with extra security and more planes than usual.
As the investigation into the crashed airliner continues, BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner says that although British officials have not ruled out a technical fault, they think that is increasingly unlikely.
New intelligence was received on Wednesday. The UK government's Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC) has spent the past few days assessing what brought the plane down.
Security service investigators suspect someone with access to the aircraft's baggage compartment inserted an explosive device inside or on top of the luggage just before the plane took off.
Sinai-based militants linked to the Islamic State (IS) group said they destroyed the plane, but did not say how. IS has called for a war against both Russia and the US over their air strikes in Syria.
Source: BBC
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