nigel, the SkyCargo ops at MAN have always been rumoured to be in conjuncton with the 2nd A380 service. Consequently with the seemingly soon permanent introduction of a 2nd daily A380 then the jungle drums will be beating louder for the dedicated freighter.
I do wonder if EK will go to 3 daily operation at BHX with the A350 as a way of increasing capacity and feeding into the earlier wave of departures at DXB, rather than going to 3 daily 77W which may be a slight overkill