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 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.

An investigation into a fire that engulfed an Air Busan plane at a South Korean airport this week is being slowed by a large amount of fuel and oxygen still on board, an air crash investigation official told Reuters.