Been busy. Thanks for all replies.
How about Jet2, they're fairly early from MAN, don't know how they compare to MON's timings, or if you're coming over from Donny what about looking at flights from Leeds Bradford?
The first train from Donny gets in at 0730ish, but if you need to be quicker you can get off at Stockport and take a taxi for about £15, which will deliver you to terminal door. Never thought about Leeds/Bradford as I always take public transport, and just expect this will be inconvenient.
I assume the Helvetica flight will be a bit slower using the Fokker than the previous Swiss Airbus so won't connect. There used to be a Swiss/BMI flight via Basel, but that's gone.
Not worried about a smaller plane's capacity to offer business-class service: indeed I got a Swiss RJ from Basel to Barcelona on the second leg of my journey from MAN once and got great meals and champagne all the way. Might be something to do with the fact that the only other business-class passenger was obviously a Swiss executive - still, serendipity!