Not quite as bleak as that. DUB and EDI (and London) have been go-to places for NORTH AMERICAN traffic, because they are popular with US outbound leisure customers. And post-covid, that's where the early action has been, since the Biden regime was slow to relax C-19 restrictions for us. USD exchange rates have been a major headwind for GBP earners too, though fantastic for those paid in USD. MAN has come back strongly on eastbound long-haul, short-haul leisure, no frills and European legacy scheduled.
Notable market weakspots for MAN are North America and Caribbean long haul, plus domestic routes (except Northern Ireland) in the new post-FlyBe reality. Both of those sectors will struggle to return to the heyday of 2019 traffic levels, though improvement from current throughput should be achievable. I have long been a critic of Air Canada's short-season operation which serves as a spoiler for year-round Air Transat. However, in defence of Air Canada, I do accept that delivery issues at Boeing are causing short-term problems with fleet availability. The Omni-Air B763 operation is likely a symptom of that.
FWIW, my own view is that US pre-clearance is no longer a good fit at MAN. A decade ago, yes. But now we are in a world of fast-improving immigration technology; when I last flew MAN-IAH I was through in about 20 minutes. No hassle at all. Also, USPC is an extremely expensive commitment with the host airport and associated carriers on the hook to foot the bill. Though this gets passed on to the passengers in the form of higher fares - and NW England is a price-sensitive market with a strong bias towards outbound leisure travel. And on top of the financial considerations, USPC requires an airside pier to be sterilised for its exclusive use. That is a significant blow to flexibility at an already space-restricted facility. If MAN does eventually go for USPC, I won't be complaining about it, though I really feel that there is no longer a compelling case for it, all variables considered. Immigration technology has moved on at pace and we must expect that trend to continue.