Berlin, June 30 : Amid the COVID-19 crisis, the German flag carrier Lufthansa announced on that it would continue to ramp up flight operations, and published flight schedules until the end of October. In July, the airline said that it will offer more than 40 per cent of its "originally planned flight program", reports Xinhua news agency. More than 380 aircraft would be in use until October, which would mean that half of the Lufthansa fleet would be "in the air again". "Little by little, the borders open again. Demand is increasing, in the short term but also in the long term," said Harry Hohmeister, member of the executive board of Deutsche Lufthansa. The airline has been hit hard by the COVID-19 crisis. Last week, Lufthansa shareholders had "paved the way for stabilization measures" when 98 per cent voted in favour of the German government's aid package of 9 billion euros at a general meeting. Due to the impact of the pandemic, the flag carrier had announced earlier this month that it planned to lay off a total of 22,000 full-time employees and also reduce its fleet by around 100 aircraft. /IANS