BANGKOK - Angel Air is to return one of its two leased aircraft to China Northern Airlines following the Thai airline’s decision to suspend daily flights between Phuket and Osaka. Somchai Bencharongkul, president and CEO of Angel Air said the move would save the airline about Bt20 million per month. Along with the return of Airbus A300-600R, the company has already dismissed 10 of the pilots hired on contract from China Northern. To continue the service would have created cashflow and other operational problems for Angel Air, Somchai said. The suspension of flights comes into effect today. Passengers confirmed on cancelled flights will be transferred to Thai Airways International, the airline said. According to Angel, the number of Japanese tourists travelling to Phuket has dropped dramatically by nearly 70 percent, making the service a financial burden. addition to suspending its daily services to Japan, Angel will also put the breaks on its planned expansion of flights to Taiwan and other Japanese destinations, said executives.