BA have quite a track record at Manchester for doing things that ultimately harm themselves.
Used to be a QuaintArs B747 that popped up and back to LHR that allowed northwest VFR pax to start as they meant to go on. When BA and QF joined forces guess what? Yup, the 747 got pulled and you went on the Shuttle.
Shrank the market by 30%
The Islamabad service was a similar story. Ram jam full every rotation but pulled 'to improve the quality of service to northwest passengers'
For south America, I'd go west to say NY or PHL and on from there, though KL AF prices in Business class are quire keen at present.
Sir George Cayley