Flight QZ8501 lost contact at 07:24AM, Malaysia-based AirAsia tweeted.
Search and rescue operations are under way.
Malaysia’s national carrier Malaysia Airlines has suffered two disasters this year – flights MH370 and MH17 – but AirAsia has never lost a plane.
Flight MH370 disappeared on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in March with 239 passengers and crew, and MH17 was shot down over Ukraine in July, killing all 298 on board.
The AirAsia flight had been due to arrive in Singapore at 08:30AM.
The missing jet had requested a “deviation” from the flight path due to bad weather, the company said.
There were 155 passengers on board, with 138 adults, 16 children and one infant, the company said in a statement. Also on board were two pilots and five cabin crew.
Most of those on board were Indonesian, but there were six others on board, three South Koreans, and one each from France, Malaysia and Singapore, AirAsia has said.
An official with the transport ministry, Hadi Mustofa, told local media the plane lost contact over the Java Sea, between the islands of Kalimantan and Java.
He said the plane had asked for an unusual route before it lost contact and that the weather had been cloudy.
AirAsia has set up an emergency line for family or friends of those who may be on board: +622 129 850 801.
-RcVk5Mi4toPresident Donald Trump set free more than 1,500 people charged for the Capitol riot in…
President Donald Trump signed a flurry of executive orders issued following his inauguration. After being…
Donald Trump has taken the oath of office as the 47th President of the United…
President Joe Biden has pre-emptively pardoned Covid response chief Anthony Fauci and the members of…
Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) is a medical condition that remains under-recognized yet has a…
Video-sharing app TikTok has gone offline in the US, hours before a new law banning…