The incident came a month after the deadliest air disaster on South Korean soil when a Jeju Air plane crashed on Muan Airport's runway as it made an emergency belly landing, killing all but two of the 181 people on board.

Shares of Air Busan dropped on Friday, after a plane belonging to the budget carrier caught fire earlier this week. Air Busan shares traded down 3.8% as of 0018 GMT, after falling as much as 6.1% to 2,

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.

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

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.

An Airbus plane has caught fire at an airport of South Korea's city of Busan, forcing the evacuation of all 176 people on board, fire authorities say. They say four people were injured as they were escaping the Air Busan aircraft on inflatable slides in the south-eastern airport on Tuesday evening.

The Transport Ministry says the plane operated by Air Busan was preparing to leave Gimhae International Airport for Hong Kong when it caught fire.