Lufthansa will stop flying over Egypt's Sinai peninsula "as a security measure" after a Russian plane crashed in the area on Saturday, killing all 224 people on board, a spokeswoman for the German airline told a newspaper.

The flagship carrier made the decision to avoid the Sinai area so long as the reason for the crash of the Airbus A321 remains unknown, the spokeswoman told German daily Die Welt. 

The Islamic State (IS) group affiliate in Egypt has claimed it downed the plane, but an Egyptian security official said the plane did not crash because of an attack.