An AirAsia flight from Surabaya, Indonesia to Singapore has lost contact with air traffic control after take-off, the airline has said.

Flight QZ8501, which had 162 people on board, was supposed to land in Singapore at 8:30am local time on Sunday.

"At the present time we unfortunately have no further information regarding the status of the passengers and crew members on board, but we will keep all parties informed as more information becomes available,' the airline said in a statement on Facebook.

The aircraft was an Airbus A320-200 with the registration number PK-AXC, the budget carrier said.

It said search and rescue operations were in progress and AirAsia was "cooperating fully and assisting the rescue service".

AirAsia said it had established an emergency call centre for family or friends of those who were travelling on the aircraft.

Unusual route

The airbus lost contact with the Jakarta air traffic control tower at 6:17am (2317 GMT), Hadi Mustofa, Indonesia's Transport Ministry official, told media.

Mustofa said the plane had asked for an unusual route before it lost contact.

The flight had been due in Singapore at 8:30 am (0030 GMT). The Singapore airport said on its website the status of the flight was "delayed".

The incident comes at the end of a disastrous year for Malaysia's airlines.

National flag carrier Malaysia Airlines lost two aircraft this year.

Its flight MH370 went missing on March 8 on a trip from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 passengers and crew on board.

On July 17, Flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board.

PHOTO CAPTION

An AirAsia plane is seen on the runway at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in this August 19, 2014 file photo.

Al-Jazeera