BERLIN (Reuters) - Lufthansa (>> Deutsche Lufthansa AG) sees obstacles to a full takeover of rival Air Berlin (>> Air Berlin Plc), but it could imagine working more closely with the carrier, chief executive Carsten Spohr on Thursday.

Lufthansa is leasing 38 crewed planes from Air Berlin and rival Ryanair (>> Ryanair Holdings plc) has described the move as a prelude to a takeover of the loss-making carrier.

But Spohr said Air Berlin's debts, high costs and antitrust issues would prevent a full takeover and that he saw no resolution to those issues.

"We could imagine using more capacity from them in future," Spohr told reporters after the carrier's annual press conference.

(Reporting by Victoria Bryan; Editing by Christoph Steitz)

Stocks treated in this article : Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Air Berlin Plc, Ryanair Holdings plc