I must admit, I think its a bit strange that Flybe has abandoned its French routes from Manchester with the exception of Nantes, to concentrate on their UK domestic market. Especially when they say the UK domestic market is where they say they are being financially hit or making a loss. To me it has smacks of bmibaby's 'launching new niche flights from Manchester' - i.e. flying from Birmingham to Tenerrife(!). Very strange!
My view is that Flybe have a self declared hub at Manchester but need to launch direct routes to popular routes that MAN have recently they lost (e.g. Bordeaux, Lourdes, Montpellier). Ryanair seem to have done very well with this albiet to other airports. However knowing what company senior management teams are like I think that they would rather drive their company out of business than change strategy.
DomyDom