[muawiyah]

Let's start with the part where you compare flying conditions in Alaska with flying conditions in Europe.

Sure, they're about the same size, both have some mountains and active volcanos, and people live there.

On the other hand, Europe has 800 (minimum) TIMES the population of Alaska, and the airspace is vastly busier.

We can only imagine how flights get rerouted in Europe.

[Hulka]

Ash cloud is ash cloud, no matter where it is. So, the basics of how you deal with flying in ash affected areas is simple—as explained in my post.

European airspace is simple as well, I've flown there for many years. Crossing borders in Europe is not a big deal and is seamless to the aircraft and takes no notice of the population of a country. Kind of like shared airspace between Canada and the United States. . .flights corss over and back all the time, no great shakes.

While national controllers “control” their airspace, it is a shared duty depending upon flight details. So, I think the concern you raise about European airspace really don't apply here.