I go back to my central point. Airlines are not in the habit of ditching routes/activity that is profitable. If TC have ditched STN then it almost certainly tells you something (and they still fly long-haul from LGW inc Cape Town in winters, so it can't be all about consolidating at MAN). The rush to paint long-haul ops at STN as the saviour of TC is just crazy. They have pulled out - gone - retrenched - whatever you want to call it. They have clearly made a business decision to do so despite whatever wonderful offers were on the table from MAG at Stansted. They had the best slots and have given them back. They - like any other airline - wouldn't have done that if those operations were profitable. And just because loads were good does not automatically mean that the routes were profitable.