Aside from the fact I'll believe it when I see it, you know how things can change, is this in their plans currently?
After the publicity it would be a
PR catastrophe for them not to operate it added to the fact they are one of the best airlines in the world for saying something and then actually going and doing it.
Just for the Nay sayers who think F wont work from MAN, it seems there are only a couple of F seats left on the inbounds, still quite a few on the outbounds, but may take time for the people comming in F on the EK17 to go back out again on the EK18.
I'd imagine a simple email to all F/J frequent flyers/email subscribers with a postcode north of Birmingham would help fill some of those seats but as you say, it's going to take some time.
I also believe that most of the traffic in F will appreciate a red, Nike football shirt in their goody bag opposed to pyjamas...