REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, DENPASAR -- The Ngurah Rai airport of Bali recorded an increase in number of wide bodied airliners leaving the country via the international airport in August.

There were 2,299 outbound international flights from the airport in August or an increase of 2.86 percent compared to 2,235 flights in July.

"Similarly , the number of international passengers leaving Bali via the airport also rose 11.88 percent from 393,929 in July to 2015 to 440,747 in August," head of the Bali regional office of the Central Bureau of Statistics Panusunan Siregar said here on Monday.

The baggage rose 14.79 percent from 5,883 tons in July to 6,752 tons in August.

"The number of flights and passengers and volume of baggage rose significantly despite delays and cancellations of flights on volcanic ashes spewed by Mount Raung in East Java in August," Panusunan said.

Data from the Bali provincial tourism office showed there were 414 flights with 39,715 passengers from the airport cancelled because of the volcanic ashes.

On July , 2015, the airport was closed for a number of hours cancelling eight domestic flights with 1,2000 passengers and 31 international flights with 4,650 passengers, he cited.

More flights were cancelled in August.

Bali is a major international tourist destination and a big contributor to the country's foreign exchange earning from the tourism sector.

In August alone there were 303,621 foreign visitors in direct flights to Bali down 9.84 percent from the previous month.

The decline was caused by the volcanic ashes disrupting flight schedules not only in Ngurah Rai but also in a number of other airport in the country.

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