LBA down from 4 to 3, MAN losing last Shuttle, Virgin Red reducing as well. QR are heading to EDI in Summer will that effect EDI - LHR.
QR in EDI is more likely to dent EK's growth at GLA slightly, I am reasonably confident the EDI shuttle will be OK.... LBA-LHR is arguably a slot sitter, the fourth daily certainly is, the service is right sizing. BA have pulled back again at MAN by dumping LGW, the clue is no one picked it up. Hence the market appears to have waned, however at LHR, BA still need to feed long haul, the Shuttle would appear to be safe. The flexibility, regularity and ball crunching fares of all business class Landor are gone.
If Etihad (wow, I can actually say the name again, whatever happened?) do go three daily, then I wonder exactly how anyone is making money? I know EK do well but what about Qatar and Etihad? Does it even matter or are they just arms of the oil rich state capacity dumping and empire building? It's impressive what black gold can do, wish we had some in the UK. Waiiiiit a minute!
There's no sense in getting into a DUB/MAN willy waving contest as Ireland has stronger links with the US and MAN lacks political backing at a high level. In terms of US legacies though, MAN does well but DUB has the edge. With the ME3, there's a political drive to serve MAN as well, especially with Etihad sponsoring Manchester Rovers Boy's Club. It's a marketing strategy to increase brand recognition globally as well as bring a degree of respectability.