Yes I noticed there was a Liverpool service yesterday, wasn't sure if that was the first one but certainly until recently there was no flight on a Saturday. Also noticed that it is scheduled to arrive and depart at exactly the same time as the WW service to MAN, although that may just be a coincidence.
If nobody was to move onto the MAN route then NOC-LPL would become a seriously profitable operation for Ryanair however, given that WW have run a 737 profitably on the route for years, I'd be amazed if nobody wanted a shot at it.
Also you have the strong possibility of Galway Airport - which has a daily MAN service - closing next year, so that would result in more MAN passengers switching to Knock.
Still think its an easy opportunity for flybe to run a successful daily flight despite the Ryanair competition.
In terms of Winter operational changes compared to last year, so far it looks like this:
Gatwick: up from 4 per week to 7 per week
Luton: down from 7 per week to 4 per week
East Midlands: down from 4 per week to 3 per week
Liverpool: up from 6 per week to 7 per week
Edinburgh: up from no service to 3 per week
Tenerife: up from no service to 1 per week
Lanzarote: up from no service to 1 per week
Manchester: down from 4 per week to no service
Leeds, Bristol, Birmingham & Stansted: no change to number of flights (some changes to days of operation)
So a slight increase in weekly international flights so far, with some winter sun routes and hope that a Manchester operator will be added to the list. I don't expect we'll see any winter charters this year (there weren't any last year), or any new scheduled routes operating this side of Christmas.
You'd never know though.