A passenger plane has caught fire before takeoff at an airport in South Korea, but all 176 people on board have been safely evacuated.

An Airbus plane belonging to South Korean carrier Air Busan caught fire on Tuesday at Gimhae International Airport in the country's south while preparing for departure to Hong Kong, fire authorities said.

South Korean officials are launching an investigation into the cause of the fire that engulfed an Air Busan passenger plane, with eyewitness accounts suggesting a power bank may have sparked the blaze.