Jettesen,
This rumour was started in another thread by a chap called Vuelo, he stated that Easyjet had already signed with Manchester and would switch all services by summer 2006, however when questioned a bit he Vanished into thin air and deleted the posts so that should give some idea of the guys credability.
GayrugbyBloke,
You state that you dont have a car and want to fly from Manchester, may i suggest you take a quick look on any of the following web-sites.
Ryanair
BMI Baby
HLX express
EU Jet
Air Berlin
Zoom
Jet 2
All these airlines offer/will offer Lo-cost flights from Manchester or connections via Dublin/Manston thus quickly erradicating the need to transit down the M62 to John Lennon International.
The future is bright in my opinion and there aint a splash of Orange in sight.