The flight by the low-cost airline had left the Indonesian city of Surabaya heading to Singapore when it disappeared at 7:24 a.m. Sunday, local time - 42 minutes into its flight, nearly halfway to its destination.
Officials say before contact was lost, the pilot had asked air traffic control in Jakarta for permission to ascend 1,800 meters to avoid bad weather.
An airline statement says the Airbus A320-200 had 156 Indonesian passengers and crew onboard, along with three South Koreans and one person each from Singapore, Malaysia and France. The crew of seven were all Indonesians.
The aircraft was operated by AirAsia Indonesia, a unit of Malaysian-based AirAsia.
Officials say search and rescue operations are under way in the Java Sea.
U.S. officials say President Barack Obama, who is on vacation in Hawaii and lived in Indonesia for a while during his youth, has been informed of the situation.
