By Ole Petter Skonnord
OSLO, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Norwegian Air, Europe'sthird-largest budget airline by passenger numbers, expectsBritain's vote to leave the European Union to hit demand fromsome British customers, its CEO said on Thursday.
"England has received a punch after Brexit. So one mustexpect that English retirees will have less money," ChiefExecutive Officer Bjoern Kjos said in an interview on thesidelines of a quarterly results presentation.
"So this will hit the traffic to Spain (from Britain)," hesaid.
Norwegian Air flies to and from London's Gatwick airport,Manchester, Birmingham and Edinburgh and serves a number ofdestinations in Spain.
It is also building up operations from Britain, which ithopes to use as a base for its transatlantic flights.
The British pound has fallen sharply in value against majorcurrencies since the June 23 vote to leave the EU, erodingBritons' purchasing power abroad.
In July, Norwegian Air had said it had not yet seen lowerbookings as a result of the Brexit vote, noting that most of itspassengers were holidaymakers, who had probably already madesummer bookings by the time of the referendum.
European short-haul carriers have struggled in recent monthswith over-capacity and Britain's vote to leave the EU, withlow-cost airlines Wizz Air and easyJet bothtrimming their annual profit forecasts in recent weeks.
Wizz Air said on Thursday however it will open a new Britishbase at London Luton. (Writing by Gwladys Fouche; Editing by Adrian Croft)
easyJet (EZJ)