Some Facts - no opinions
Some FACTS that many here are ignoring:
1) Being a commercial pilot, even a heavy captain with tens of thousands of hours, gives you no special knowledge about the effect of volcanic ash on commercial aircraft and engines.
2) All of the following are telling you the dangers of flying over Europe/UK are unknown:
Aircraft manufacturers
Engine manufacturers
Aerospace engineers
Volcanologists
Engine repair technicians
Metallurgists
3) Geologists and Volcanolgists keep telling this forum there are significant, and lethal, differences between volcanic ash and sand/dust, even the oft mentioned Sahara grit.
4) Geologists and Volcanolgists keep telling this forum there are significant differences between the volcanic ash and ash plume emitted by Icelandic and Italian volcanoes.
5) Geologists and Volcanolgists keep telling this forum that the eruption plume from the Iceland volcano is quite different that those encountered in Indonesian due to the cooling effect of the glaciers.
6) Prior, and recent test flights over the UK have detected significant concentrations of “heavy grit” at various flight levels.
7) The Finnish F-18’s were totally unaware, i.e. no visible indication, of the volcanic ash that damaged their engines.
8) The “unknown airforce” F-16 with ash damaged engine was totally unaware, i.e. no visible indication, of the volcanic ash that damaged their engines.
9) I have found no posting on this forum by any professional or expert with knowledge of the interactions of commercial aircraft/engines and volcanic ash that suggests it is safe to fly in Europe/UK
10) Engine manufactures are telling you to borescope engines after flight into volcanic ash. Engine mechanics are telling you this is an expensive and time consuming process.
11) Volcanic ash related engine damage has repeatedly occurred when commercial flights encountered volcanic ash that was not visible.