SYDNEY, Oct 22 (Reuters) – Qantas Airways Ltd (QAN.AX) said on Friday it would speed up plans to restart flights to many destinations and use some bigger planes amid “massive demand” for international flying as quarantine restrictions ease for Australian citizens.

All 11,000 of the airline’s staff idled without pay, around half its workforce, will return to work by early December as domestic and international flying returns to more normal levels, the airline said.

Qantas will bring back two of its flagship Airbus SE (AIR.PA)A380 super-jumbos in April – three months earlier than planned – and is in talks with Boeing Co (BA.N) about the delivery of three new 787-9s in storage to accelerate its international flight plans.

Qantas Chief Executive Alan Joyce said that for four of the last five weeks, the airline’s international sales were stronger than domestic sales for the first time since the pandemic began.

“There is massive demand for Australians wanting to see their family and relatives,” he told reporters. “There is massive demand for loved ones wanting to get together for Christmas. There is demand for people wanting to take that holiday that they have been looking forward to for nearly two years.”