East is East
......and don't forget SQ daily B773 to SIN, albeit shared with MUC. Etihad are clearly building toward 2 daily also, having invested in a smart new lounge.
There is indeed a slug of capacity going East out of MAN, and there are likely to be losers somewhere. But where? From MAN's viewpoint the losers will best be LHR and perhaps certain EU hubs who currently benefit from traffic originating in northern England. If spread around a bit this should not lead to loss of important hub frequencies ex-MAN, and also avoid a blood-bath between the Asian giants. LHR is already showing a weakening share of the northern England market, with bmi drastically cutting capacity on MAN-LHR.
Could the same boom happen going west, on the Atlantic? Ultimately a smaller market than going East, but here MAN does have one distinct advantage - you don't overfly any hubs between MAN and North America. Below Us Only Sea. Imagine.