A Sudanese aeroplane has been hijacked shortly after take off from Nyala, the largest town in the country's war-torn Darfur region.

The aeroplane, hijacked on Tuesday, was heading for Libya after authorities in Egypt denied the pilot permission to land.

"The plane took off from Nyala at 13:40 GMT en route to Khartoum," an airline official in the domestic Sun Air company told the AFP news agency on condition of anonymity. 

"After 20 minutes the pilot called Nyala airport to say the plane had been hijacked. There are 87 passengers on board," he said.

Communications with the plane were cut off after the hijacking and the hijackers' demands were not immediately known.