A huge explosion has reportedly been heard in the vicinity of Cairo Airport this evening.

One Twitter user, Matthew Keidas, has said: "This guy says a worker at the airport said it was an explosion at the fuel depot in Cairo airport".

Images posted to social media show a large funnel of smoke rising above the Cairo skyline.

Egypt's civial aviation minister Younis al-Masry concurred that the blast had occurred at fuel tanks outside the airport's perimeter.

The explosion reportedly took place just before 11 p.m. local time.

He said air movement at the airport had been "unaffected".

The cause of the explosion was not immediately known. In February 2015 authorities discovered bombs planted at the Cairo International Airport on the same day that a blast killed a man in Egypt's second city of Alexandria.

All flights have been suspended at the airport while officials investigate the blast.

This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.