Given one B777F/B747F stand can hold 2 x B737/A320 what's your preference? Send cargo to another MAG airport or tell a based carrier to drop two based units?
MAN has lost rather alot of based units taking account of the demise of MON, TCX and BEE. Plus pending reductions in based-fleet from VIR. There used to be single based units from carriers such as Condor, Germania, ASL France, Enter Air and Small Planet in the not too distant past as well. In the case of TCX and BEE, the anticipated reactive backfill from other based carriers was derailed by covid. Some additional based aircraft are likely, but it will be a challenging climb back to the previous highs. Four years minimum is my guess. So you offer a false choice. There is room to accommodate the passenger business on offer at this point, and to accept cargo flights. And, as you certainly know, MAG cannot "send" cargo operators anywhere. They can offer a switch-sell proposal which operators can accept or decline. The decision is the preserve of the operator. Furthermore, if business were to come back at a pace which threatens to overwhelm apron space, that would be a very welcome problem to have - but I fear there will be breathing room for a long time yet. And if a sustained upswing were to be genuinely anticipated, how about constructing some additional remote stands?
Note that previous instances which saw proposed additional based Ryanair units turned away related specifically to T3 access; nothing to do with space on the West Apron which would be the logical choice for servicing cargo flights.
I’m still not convinced that this isn’t about spotters wanting more variety.
In the rolling twelve months to the end of November 2021 (most recent data), MAN's passenger throughput was 5,444,757. Cargo was 52,446 Tonnes. Comparable numbers at the end of September 2019 were 29,510,599 and 113,248 Tonnes.
Whilst those November numbers represent a recovery from the March 2021 covid nadir of 2,844,918 and 39,710 Tonnes, it is clear that there is still a huge chasm separating today's throughput from the 2019 highs. So maybe you should consider that this is about interested parties wanting to see MAG putting some energy into attracting back much-needed business, rather than leaving the routes team on furlough for far too long, issuing consecutive no-div notams week after week, and rejecting freighter requests seemingly by default. If anyone is arguing that MAN can't cope with 20% of previous passenger throughput and less than half of recent cargo numbers, then they need to be asking serious questions of senior management. I'll take extra business for MAN whether it be "more variety" or extra Jet2's and Ryanair's. MAN needs everything it can get! The airport is enduring the biggest slump since WW2.
By the way, a word to the wise on the 'spotters' jibe. My years as a spotter from the age of ten led to a rewarding career in the industry which I always wanted to work in. I know that to be true of many other PP users also - including Skipness, I suggest. It is probably unwise to be haughtily dismissive of the avgeek massive on here!