Hasn't IAG offered Virgin a free run at MAN-US ever since BA dropped MAN-JFK though? An American codeshare is not really an IAG presence, if there's such a thing. If I was on the IAG board, and thank God I'm not, I'd be asking why another IAG OpCo is stepping into BA's home market (the UK). Imagine the banter if BA launched DUB-JFK with spare B777s as British Airways (Ireland). People's heads would explode that this was wrong on every single level and the worst thing to happen since Trevelyan whereas I bet Aer Lingus (UK) could really make MAN work.