AirAsia management meets families of those on board missing plane

The AirAsia management Sunday met family members of those on board missing flight QZ8501 to update them on the latest developments and reconfirmed their commitment to offering assistance.

"We are deeply shocked and saddened by this incident. We are cooperating with the relevant authorities to the fullest extent to determine the cause of this incident. In the meantime, our main priority is keeping the families of our passengers and colleagues informed on the latest developments," Xinhua quoted Sunu Widyatmoko, CEO of AirAsia Indonesia, as saying Monday.

He also said the airline has already mobilised a support team to help take care of the needs of the families, including accommodation and travel arrangements. "A briefing center has been set up in Surabaya for the families," he added.

He said an emergency briefing room was also set up at Singapore's Changi International Airport terminal two to offer regular updates.

The statement said the captain in command of the missing plane had 20,537 hours of flying experience of which, 6,100 hours were with AirAsia Indonesia on the Airbus A320. The first office officer had 2,275 hours of flying experience with AirAsia Indonesia.