"I would like to express my condolences on the disappearance of many Indonesians and I hope that all passengers of the AirAsia plane are alive and will be rescued in the nearest future," Abe said in a statement to Indonesia's President Joko Widodo, published by the Japanese NHK channel.
Currently the search and rescue operations are being carried out by international missions from Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia.
The Russian Emergencies Ministry has also announced that it is ready to provide Indonesia with "the most modern aircraft and rescue technology" and proposed sending its specialists to the search area.
AirAsia, en route from Surabaya, Indonesia to Singapore, lost contact with air traffic control on Sunday morning. The aircraft was carrying 155 passengers and seven crew members. Most passengers on board were Indonesian; three passengers were South Koreans, and there were individual French, Malaysian and Singaporean passengers on board.
AirAsia Indonesia operates domestic flights within the Indonesian archipelago and international flights to Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and Thailand. The company is an affiliate of the Malaysian company AirAsia.
