At least seven international flights from Indonesia's resort island Bali have been cancelled, an airport official said Friday, after a volcano in the archipelago nation's east erupted, shooting dark ash eight kilometers into the sky and forcing thousands to evacuate.

Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki, a 1,703-meter twin-peaked volcano on the tourist island of Flores, erupted for 11 minutes and nine seconds late Thursday, authorities said, raising the volcano's alert status to the highest level.

As of 9:45 am Friday, "seven international flights had been cancelled, six of them are Jetstar flights bound to Australia and one Air Asia flight to Kuala Lumpur," Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport spokesman, Andadina Dyah, said in a statement.