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

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Germany's Lufthansa Group (LHAG.DE) 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 chief executive said on Tuesday.

"Replacement parts, engines, pilots, infrastructure are all lacking," Carsten Spohr told journalists ahead of the group's annual shareholder meeting.

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 the Austrian Airlines, SWISS, Brussels Airlines and Eurowings carriers, 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 on Monday ordered additional jets to reflect improving results at some units and to make up for delivery shortfalls.

(Reporting by Ilona Wissenbach; Writing by Victoria Bryan; Editing by Maria Sheahan)