More than 190 passengers on a Cathay Pacific Airways flight to Japan had to be evacuated shortly before takeoff at Hong Kong International Airport due to a fuel spillage on Monday.

Hong Kong-Nagoya flight CX532, scheduled to depart at 4.15pm with 191 passengers, was on its way to a runway via a taxi way when the issue was discovered, according to the airline and the Airport Authority.

The Airbus A330 was later towed to a parking bay, where the passengers were evacuated. The safety of their passengers and crew was the priority, an airline spokesman said.

The Fire Services Department deployed 14 vehicles and an ambulance on standby after receiving a call at 4.40pm. They stood down at 5.35pm.