An AirAsia flight travelling from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore has lost contact with air traffic control, the company has said.

Indonesian media say 162 people were on board.

The aircraft, flight number QZ8501, lost contact with air traffic control just after 07:00am local time, AirAsia tweeted.

The company said that search and rescue operations were under way for the missing plane.

An official with the transport ministry, Hadi Mustofa, told local media the plane lost contact over the Java sea, which lies between Surabaya and Singapore.