CX v the rest
I travel business class MAN-HKG & usually pay about £2,000 give or take the odd hundred, using either Swiss, Lufthansa, Qatar or Emirates. (With EK in terms of service & facilities being the best & LH best in terms of speed of journey).
However if CX were to return to MAN the time saving would be great, but the cheapest J class fares would be about £3,400.
I'm not sure how many canny Northerners would pay a 70% premium to go non stop.
It may be more cost effective in economy & of course the 777 would have great cargo capacity to help make it pay.