If EMA, NCL or whoever overtake them, that should be irrelevant.
Of course it's relevant. LPL will not want to lose out to its rivals or lose market share. BRS is in comfortable ninth place so LPL, NCL and EMA will all be fighting to make it in the top ten.
Not as bad a picture as you are painting wait and see
New routes, new agreements, new airline and new CEO ahead in 2013
Which ever way you look at it, Liverpool's passenger numbers are going to be dissapointing this year, certainly a small decrease on 2012 unless the airport suddenly get a huge boost for the last 2 months of the year when the winter timetable starts, which I very much doubt will be the case. It's far too late for any significant expansion this year now. If they get something like a Jet2 base in 2014, that's a different story.
The main problem is that LPL is too reliant on EasyJet and Ryanair they are now just as big in Manchester as they are in Liverpool, if not bigger (FR is certainly bigger in MAN now). Go back 5 or 6 years and FR had about 2 routes from Manchester and there was no EZY at all!
Btw: Those living near LPL are going to have a really nice quiet Sunday morning lie in this summer! Below is the timetable for Sunday mornings through the summer holidays:
ARRIVALS
EZY7146 00:55 Palma de Mallorca
EZY7198 01:35 Faro
EZY7268 01:45 Rhodes
EZY7260 02:10 Bodrum
EZY7164 02:20 Ibiza
FR442 08:45 Dublin
FR1442 08:55 Dublin
FR1134 11:40 Shannon
DEPARTURES
EZY7179 06:00 Malaga
FR4038 06:00 Kos
EZY7141 06:10 Palma de Mallorca
FR9886 06:20 Alicante
FR443 06:30 Dublin
FR4252 06:35 Lodz
FR9622 06:35 Vilnius
FR1443 06:45 Dublin
EZY7133 07:00 Minorca
EZY7157 07:00 Lanzarote
EZY7193 07:05 Faro
EZY7083 07:10 Lisbon
EZY7253 07:50 Krakow
FR1135 09:10 Shannon
FR9824 09:20 Barcelona-Reus
The next departure after the 09:20 flight to Reus is a 12:30 departure to Limoges, more than 3 hours later!!! In fact, providing there are no stand-by or additional aircraft, there won't be a single passenger aircraft on the ground what so ever between 09:20 and 11:40 on Sunday mornings
Dangerously quiet if you ask me!