Boeing 737 bursts into flames at Kazakhstan airport

Terror at the terminal: Horrified airline passengers look on from the gate after the plane they were due to board bursts into flames at at an airport in Kazakhstan

This is the terrifying moment a commercial airliner bursts into flames moments before passengers were about to board.

The Boeing 737-300 caught fire after an oxygen cylinder exploded as horrified onlookers watched on from the gate.

Dramatic footage shows 15ft-high flames erupting through a massive hole in the fuselage, sending thick, black smoke billowing across the airport.

Fortunately, the incoming passengers had already left the 25-year-old aircraft and the outgoing ones had not yet been called to board.

The fire is understood to have caused irreparable damage before firefighters were able to bring the flames under control with water cannon.

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Destroyed: Dramatic footage shows 15ft-high flames erupting through a massive hole in the fuselage, sending thick, black smoke billowing across the airport as firefighters battle to control the blaze

SCAT airlines has a terrible safety record and was earlier this year ranked among the most dangerous carriers in the world.

The company was given a safety rating of just one star out of seven, putting it among the bottom in a report by Australian review site AirlineRatings.com which was published in January.

In January 2013, all 21 people on board a SCAT Airlines flight from Kokshetau to Almaty died when the aircraft crashed in poor weather near Kyzyltu.

All five of the most dangerous airlines listed are banned in the European Union Member States and 'strongly advised against' in the United States.