Magplug
I frankly can't see why Manchester even needed to build a second runway given the low level of traffic. Gatwick manages more movements with one runway (246k p/a) than Manchester (225k p/a) manages with two
Nothing to do with annual movements but with busy hour movements and aircraft mix. When the second runway was being planned and built the peak hour movements especially in the morning were pushing the limits of the single runway in the peaks. The configuration of the old 06/24 in those days had a limited number of Rapid Turn Offs and holding capacity. Movements were being constrained although declared capacity eventually reached the high 40s/hour in some hours. The fact that this was actually achieved is tribute to the skills of ATC at MAN especially with a much bigger variety of aircraft types than LGW.
The fact that peak hour slots were so hard to get actually stopped the development of some new services. When R2 opened in 2001 these constraints were removed but of course the timing wasn't good as life changed after Sept 11th.
In the last couple of years annual movements have been falling but I don't have any info on the demand for peak hour movements. Just shows the business risks that Airports have with major infrastructure. Between committing to R2 @ £250m and completion was 10 years with construction taking 3 years. In that time the world can and did change. By contrast airlines can add (and dispose) of aircraft capacity relatively quickly.
Good to see MAN trialling something which hopefully can be built on to help prevent runway incursions.
Suzeman