I think this needs to be direct !
If CX are coming into the market surely they have to offer a VERY competitive edge . By Nov 2010 EK will "probably" be at 3 a day !
It will all depend on how they sell the flight. By going via ZRH, in terms of HKG traffic, they will be at no disadvantage to EK/EY so on, but like I sayit will depend on how many seat are available at MAN and price.
If you think of it though, CX can market the same plane service to HKG, and its well known by both HKG/MAN markets, so could prove sucessfull
Singapore for example, is still sucessfull here. People seem to think people steer away due to the MUC stop, but its actually the fact they cant get seats on the service thats the issue.
Good luck to them I say!