Indonesia will not give up search for missing flight

He said Indonesian President Joko Widodo had also issued a directive to accelerate efforts to search for the plane.

"The government will never give up the search (location) for AirAsia QZ8501 nor give a deadline until when the hunt will continue. Until now, assistance from Australia, Singapore and Malaysia has been accepted by the government in the search for the missing flight," Jusuf said.

Those on board the missing plane, an Airbus A320-200, comprise 155 Indonesians, three South Koreans, a Singaporean, a Malaysian, a Briton and a French.

The flight reportedly lost contact about 42 minutes after taking off from Surabaya at 5.35am (local time) and was scheduled to arrive in Singapore at 8.30am.