Several Australian airlines have canceled flights to and from the popular Indonesian vacation island of Bali after an erupting volcano gushed a column of hot ash miles into the sky.

Several flights to and from Bali have been cancelled after the Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki volcano began spewing ash as high as 9km in the sky.

Virgin Australia cancelled all flights in and out of Bali, Indonesia, on Wednesday as volcanic ash from the eruption of Mount Lewotobi made flying unsafe, the carrier said.