The Airbus A320 was travelling from Cairo to Bahrain when it came down shortly before it was due to land.

Seventy bodies have been recovered from the wreckage so far but no survivors have been found.

The airline has set up an emergency response centre in London to take calls from any people who might be concerned their relatives were on the Airbus A320.

The number is 0845 604 0171.

Steve Lowes, a Gulf Air spokesman, said they had not yet had a chance to contact the relatives of the two Britons.

The Bahraini Information Ministry official, Said Al-Bably, said the plane crashed after one of its engines caught fire.

He confirmed that a major rescue operation was underway.

"There is no information on survivors," he added.

Site of Gulf Air crash

Most of the passengers are reported to be Arab nationals.

Three helicopters from the Bahrain-based US Navy's Fifth Fleet joined the Bahraini coast guard's rescue effort. The plane is reported to have crashed about five kilometres (three miles) from Bahrain airport.

The plane, flight GF072, was carrying 135 passengers and eight crew. Cairo airport officials said it left Cairo at 1425BST.

A Gulf Air official has given an incomplete passenger list. He said the passengers included 63 Egyptians, 34 Bahrainis and 12 Saudis.

Among the other passengers were two Britons, an Australian, nine Palestinians, six from the United Arab Emirates and three Chinese, a Cairo airport official said.

Gulf Air is jointly owned by the Gulf states of Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

According to an air traffic controller at Bahrain airport, the jet circled the runway twice in an attempt to land, then on the third attempt plunged into the sea and exploded in flames. He said it came down at 1620 GMT.