AN Air Asia jet has lost contact with air traffic control.
The jet was travelling from Surabaya, Indonesia, to Singapore when contact was lost.
Reports there are 155 passengers and six crew on-board Flight QZ8501.
The network quoted Transport Ministry official Hadi Mustofa as saying the aircraft lost contact with the Jakarta air traffic control tower at 6.17am local time.
He said the plane, an Airbus A320-200, had asked for an unusual route before it lost contact.
There are emerging reports the plane may have been trying to avoid bad weather at the time it disappeared.
According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, the plane was more than 200 nautical miles south east from Singaporean airspace at the time.
SBS is reporting there are no Australians on-board.
The flight was due in Singapore more than three hours ago.
As concerned relatives began arriving at Surabaya Airport, officials posted a list of those on-board.
In a statement Air Asia said a search was currently underway.
“At this time, search and rescue operations are in progress and AirAsia is cooperating fully and assisting the rescue service.â€
It said it had “no further informationâ€
An Emergency Call Centre has been set up for family or friends of those on board the aircraft.
Of the people on-board there were 138 adults, sixteen children and one infant.
Air Asia is Malaysia’s low-cost airline based in Kuala Lumpur, however the missing jet is from the Indonesian subsidiary.
The company is based in KL, and is considered a good airline with an impeccable safety record.
The disappearance of QZ8501 is the third major incident involving an Asian airline this year.
MH370 went missing on March 8 with 239 passengers on board and was flying from Kuala Lumpur, to Beijing in China.
Despite an extensive search, no trace of the plane has yet been found.
Then in July, MH17 was shot down by a missile over rebel-held Ukraine with 28 Australians among the 298 dead.
Meanwhile Air Asia has changed its Facebook profile picture from red to grey after announcing the disappearance of the A320-200.
