Delta154
You're right, whether Manchester or Birmingham is "bestest" and each has it's strong and weak points (though some are unprepared to accept there's anything weak about their city) the problem with the UK is that there's only one game in town - LONDON.
Germany, as I have alluded to in the past is a different case - it is a federal nation where each state (certainly in the old western Germany) is roughly equal, and the major airports in each of the major states bears this out.