I spent the week flying around Blighty with work. BHD-EXT-GLA-BHD, and was astonished at how few pax were on all the flights (bar GLA-BHD, which was pretty full). I counted 40 on the BHD-EXT flight, and the next day, 23 on the EXT-GLA flight. Despite this fares were still relatively high. One wonders if BE are an example of an airline who don't need massive numbers on their planes as yields are high. Hopefully this bodes well for LDY-MAN. Naturally, I would've preferred to use LDY, but timings/destinations wouldn't allow.
I also noticed that BE are now offering a connection to CDG via MAN. Hopefully this will be the first of many.
As an aside, I'd imagine the airport will be very busy toward the end of April, with the extra Bank Holidays and also an extended Jazz Festival. All good.