Wind your neck back in!
That's the smartest thing you've come out with yet.
China Airlines flys 3x a week to MAN, wed, fri, sun!
For the record China Airlines serve Heathrow with a thrice weekly A340 passenger service direct from Taipei whereas Manchester has the cargo on the B747-400F. Apples and pears I think but still a gorgeous colour scheme.
EK A380 before some of the worlds busiest airports (FRA/LAX/JFK)
-4th EY lounge in the WORLD
-one of the few airports to see a service from all 3 major ME carriers
-up to 6 flights a DAY to New York (PIA/BG included as they have/will have the rights to serve it)
-up to 2 daily CX freighters, and up till this year, was the only place in the UK you could see a china airlines aircraft
-the only UK regional not to have been cut by AA, and one of only 4 euro cities they linked with ORD this winter.
You compare MAN with other regional European airports and are astounded. Why? Those are EUROPEAN airports, not British. Hence Etihad of Abu Dhabi pretty much run by UK ex pats. QATAR is the same, as is Emirates. Indeed Cathay was for many years too. The countries are all ex British territories with long links to the mainland. Indeed MAN has seen Emirates right back to the early days of the airline.
The UK always has had way more direct links to the US than comparable European airports partly due to trade, partly language, partly history. AA MAN-ORD has been flown for a quarter of a century and so you shouldn't be too astounded it has lasted well in comparison with some others.
People in the UK forget just how "unusal" being British can be when you take a step back, we're pretty damned lucky in some ways.