wanna_be_there.
Sadly I think you are spot on as regards long haul, in point of fact, not even Manchester can support regular scheduled passenger operations to the US west coast, or for that matter non stop services to destinations in China, Japan etc.
The article is little more than the usual press nonsense cobbled together by ignorant journalists egged on by
PR companies who are probabaly only marginally more knowledgeable.
However, as everyone knows, AI pulled the plug on BHX to preserve slots at the sacred cow that is LHR. Moreover Cyprus and Air Malta are hardly what you would call bread and butter airlines - operating quasi IT services as they do / did. BHX's "bread and butter" airlines are Flybe along with the major european carriers, such as LH, AF, KL, SK - and of course Emirates all of whose services have stood up extremely well through the recent economic downturn.