An AirAsia Indonesia flight 8501 which was carrying 162 people has gone missing after the pilot requested permission to change course due to enroute weather on Sunday morning, according to reports.

The Airbus A320-200, which was travelling from Indonesia to Singapore, was carrying 155 passengers,  including 16 children and 1 infant.

Most on board flight QZ8501 were Indonesian though there were an estimated six foreigners — including three South Koreans, a French and a British national.

The airline said in a statement:  “AirAsia Indonesia regrets to confirm that flight QZ8501 from Surabaya to Singapore has lost contact with air traffic control at 07:24 (Surabaya LT) this morning.

“The flight took off from Juanda International Airport in Surabaya at 0535hours.

“There were 155 passengers on board, with 138 adults, 16 children and 1 infant. Also on board were 2 pilots and 5 cabin crew.

“At this time, search and rescue operations are being conducted under the guidance of The Indonesia of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

“AirAsia Indonesia is cooperating fully and assisting the investigation in every possible way.

“The aircraft was on the submitted flight plan route and was requesting deviation due to enroute weather before communication with the aircraft was lost while it was still under the control of the Indonesian Air Traffic Control (ATC).”

“The aircraft had undergone its last scheduled maintenance on 16 November 2014.”

According to the airline, the captain in command had a total of 6,100 flying hours and the first officer a total of 2,275 flying hours.

Friends and family of those missing have been provided an emergency call centre number to contact for any updates.