The day after FR announced MAN-MAD, There was a Director business brief at the MAN base who said they were "pissed off" (his words) as MAD was already in the pipeline and MAN knew it. Yet they let an airline who they (MAN) had serious issues with potentially jeopardise what has been steady, consistent and reliable growth shown by Easyjet. IMO of course, competition isn't necassarilly a bad thing but MAN-MAD was in the pipeline. Routes take a while to come to fruition aswell and aren't usually announced on a whim. Indeed, those of you who truly know Easyjet these days will know that they actually pretty cautious when it comes to launching new routes/opportunities. Remember also that MAD came as part of a wider route launch ex MAN. MAD would have come to MAN regardless of FR.