Lufthansa CE says can't grow as fast as it would like

Lufthansa Group is not able to grow as fast as it would like to take advantage of growing demand for travel due to tightness in labour and maintenance markets, its CE said Tuesday. “Replacement parts, engines, pilots, infrastructure are all lacking,” Carsten Spohr said. Rivals are also struggling to grow as fast as they want and that means ticket prices will not fall as quickly as they have in the past, Spohr said. The group, which also includes Austrian, SWISS, Brussels Airlines and Eurowings, has been hit by delivery delays for A320 planes due to engine issues, while it is struggling to recruit enough staff quickly enough to fill the gap in the market left by collapsed rival Air Berlin. Lufthansa Monday ordered additional jets to reflect improving results at some units and to make up for delivery shortfalls. <br/>