Skipness,
A Jetstar punter flying from Manchester is NOT one less flying QANTAS. It may be one less flying QF's competitors (EK, QR, EY, SQ etc.), but rarely QANTAS itself. The notoriously unreliable LHR Shuttle followed by a stressful transfer at Europe's worst major airport is an ordeal that most clued-up Northerners rejected long ago. Despite all the codeshares, BA MAN-LHR frequencies have eroded from 12x daily to 8x daily and most Shuttle flights are operated by A319/A320 versus B752/B763 ten years ago. That is because LHR connections are not attractive to us up here whether the OneLondon Alliance carriers like it or not. Their convenience is not our concern.
QANTAS have a simple choice. If they want to stick with LHR only that is fine; it is their commercial choice as a business and good luck to them. But if they seriously believe that those ex-LHR flights will attract MAN-originating pax to the full potential of the market then they are delusional. A Jetstar schedule from MAN is QANTAS' best prospect for making inroads into the Gulf carriers' dominance of the 'Kangaroo Route' from the North.
SHED.