Lufthansa (ETR: LHAG ) CEO Carsten Spohr said on Monday that flight prices will never return to what they were before the pandemic, predicting stable or rising prices in the future.

The sale of tickets below 20 euros was irresponsible and too low, Spohr said at an event in Berlin. The sector needs prices to rise to finance more investment and be more resilient to shocks like the COVID-19 pandemic, he added.

Still, the CEO warned that a recession in Germany is now to be expected, which would reduce consumer demand.

(Reporting by Klaus Lauer; Writing by Victoria Waldersee; Editing in Spanish by Juana.