New Delhi, Dec 28 (IANS): The Indian Navy has kept a surveillance aircraft and three ships ready as an AirAsia flight with 162 people on board Sunday went missing en route from Indonesia to Singapore.

"The Indian Navy has kept one Boeing P8I on standby at INS Rajali (Tamil Nadu) and three ships ready for search and rescue operations for the Air Asia flight which has been reported missing since this morning (Sunday)," a navy official said.

These assets were ready in all respects for deployment should there be orders from the Indian government to join in the search for the missing airliner, he said.

An AirAsia Airbus with 162 people on board disappeared Sunday amid thunderstorms while flying from Indonesia to Singapore, prompting a major search by the two countries' military.

The Malaysia-owned aircraft had taken off at 5.20 a.m. (local time) from the Indonesian city of Surabaya and was to land at Singapore's Changi airport at 8.30 a.m., the airline and officials said.