An Airbus with 176 people on board has burst into flames in dramatic scenes at a South Korean airport.

The inferno erupted as the Air Busan plane was preparing to take off at Gimhae International Airport, Busan, heading to Hong Kong.

Miraculously, all 169 passengers and seven crew members were able to escape largely unharmed via the inflatable evacuation slides.

Three people suffered minor injuries and were taken to hospital, fire authorities in Busan said.

Officials say all 169 passengers and seven crew members were able to leave the plane. Photo: X

The fire started inside the plane not long before takeoff, about 10.26pm on Tuesday (local time), the fire service said.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said the fire began in the plane’s tail before spreading to the fuselage and taking hold.

Dramatic footage shows the fuselage engulfed in huge flames and billowing thick smoke as firefighting hoses battle to contain the raging blaze.

Local network YTN broadcast video showing evacuation slides deployed on both sides of the single-aisle plane, with emergency workers tackling smoke and flames from the jet.

Later footage from Yonhap news showed burned-out holes along the length of the fuselage roof.

The latest aviation incident comes a month after South Korea’s  deadliest air disaster.

In late December, a Jeju Air plane made an emergency crash landing at Muan Airport, killing all but two of the 181 people and crew on board.

The Jeju Air flight 7C2216 belly-landed, skidded off the end of the runway, slammed into a wall and erupted into a huge fireball.

It was the deadliest air accident on South Korean soil and the worst involving a South Korean airline since a 1997 Korean Air crash in Guam that killed more than 200 people.

Emergency responders on the tarmac at Gimhae International Airport. Photo: X

Budget airline Air Busan is part of South Korea’s Asiana Airlines, which in December was acquired by Korean Air.

Plane maker Airbus said it was aware of reports about the incident and was liaising with Air Busan. 

The plane is a 17-year-old Airbus A321ceo model with tail number HL7763, according to Aviation Safety Network, a respected database run by the Flight Safety Foundation.

-with AAP