True to a degree, but a factor is also that with less capacity from MAN (compared to LHR) the airlines don't have to offer such cheap fares to get decent loads. It will be interesting to see if the picture changes with the planned capacity increases by QR/EY, and the rumoured one from EK.
Very true - just what I wrote.
Back to the topic of ticket prices / revenues. The huge capacity and competition at LHR as compared to MAN doesn't explain why MAN long-hauls have sometimes been cited as poor earners (BA / bmi used this reason to pull routes, as have others) when passengers seem to be paying high prices for tickets as compared to LHR, where revenues and yields are said to be good. Is it because LHR gets more expensive bums on seats at the front end who subsidise the back?
I think that on long haul, most LHR carriers offer F class therefore revenues are always going to be higher as there is more demand in London for more F destinations. Having said that, MAN now has F on two (currently) of it's long haul carriers so therefore I would assume they're competing effectively with LHR.
Having said that, LHR is a global connection hub. They can make some very nice profits in transferring passengers which I would guess is where the money is to be made.