I said that MAN needs more decent LH routes. Having looked at the posts since, I am mindful that there is a good reason for MAN not getting them, and it is two fold.
First once is demographic. Sadly Manchester cannot compete, certainly on the bus & 1st market, as the City of Manchester is not regarded as one of the worlds great financial hubs. To the sort of people that fly from LHR in business / First Class, time is literaly money, and as they are based in "the square mile" they aren't going to travel 200 miles North to catch a plane. This just cannot be helped really, unless MAN make further cuts to landing fees that the airlines pass onto the PAX, not very likely though on both counts!
However, there is a long haul market there, it just needs finding. Sadly, whenever you look at a TV about LH flying it always ex LHR, even the "airport" programme is based there. Perhaps MAN should be doing a little more active marketing, certainly more than letting the beeb film a travel show there, total exposure for MAN, 7 minutes per 30 min show, not enough! As I said earlier, within MAN all you hear is how good the place is, and what it can offer. I never hear it away from MAN though. Go 20 mile south and no-one knows the destinations served. Manchester need to make a more public face of themselves, that will then make customers realise that there is a choice north of Watford. We all work in a customer led market, if the customer wants to fly to Sydney direct from MAN, and enough of them say so, then some airline will put the route on. The same goes for anywhere in the world really.
What we have here is a great regional airport, that has suffered from under investment for a number of years, but that is now being put right slowly, and eventually will become good. If they attracted more business, then they would have more money for infrastructure, and so the cycle continues. Manchester never, ever will be a major threat to LHR, but it can carve out it's own niche and become the airport of choice for all, away from LHR, even beating LGW, now that would work!