Originally posted by the Voice of America. Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America, a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in the public domain. Lufthansa Set to Begin Flying Passengers Home to Germany VOA News 19 April 2010 Lufthansa sign at the international terminal of the Philadelphia International Airport in Philadelphia, 19 Apr 2010 Photo: AP Lufthansa sign at the international terminal of the Philadelphia International Airport in Philadelphia, 19 Apr 2010 Germany's aviation authority has granted air carrier Lufthansa permission to fly 50 long-haul jetliners home from East Asia, Africa and North America with some 15,000 passengers. Lufthansa says the flights will land in Dusseldorf, Frankfurt and Munich Tuesday. An airline spokesman told the Associated Press the planes will fly under so-called visual flight rules. The decision to ease the flight ban gripping Europe comes as the airline industry presses for the resumption of flights grounded last week when a huge plume of volcanic ash fouled European airspace. Earlier Monday, International Air Transport Association chief Giovanni Bisignani said the economic impact of the closures on the airline industry is greater than the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on the United States. Those attacks closed U.S. airspace for three days. Bisignani described the current ban to British radio as "a European embarrassment and a European mess." Separately, European transport ministers were meeting Monday to discuss when to safely re-open airspace. Officials said about 30 percent of European flights will fly Monday. Meanwhile, NATO says airborne U.S. fighter jets have suffered engine damage from volcanic debris while flying in European airspace. A NATO official declined to provide details of the training flight.                                          Finnish fighter bombers suffered similar damage last week in training runs conducted just hours before authorities began closing European airspace on Wednesday. For their part, scientists say the huge plume from the Icelandic volcano that forced the airline closures has become noticeably smaller since Saturday. For their part, scientists say the huge plume from the Icelandic volcano that forced the airline closures has become noticeably smaller since Saturday. Several major European airlines, including KLM, Lufthansa and Air France, conducted test flights with no passengers Saturday and Sunday, and reported no problems. Some information for this report was provided by AP. .