Quoting rutankrd:
"The Terminal capacity is notionally about 30 -32 million mark,however Manchester is among the most variable in Europe with peak flows at times already close to capacity"
You're quite right I'm sure. You've only to look in T1 check-in for departures for example at say 09.00 to 10.30 to see how relatively quiet it is once the early morning rush is over. And runway movements from 10.30 to 12.00 or a bit later are significantly reduced.
It must be something of a concern to MAN as I imagine they can't accommodate many more based a/c all wanting to depart between 06.00 and 08.00, but there's no easy answer as to how those quiet periods could be filled. I suppose in theory EZY and FR could use MAN on a W pattern with an early departure from LPL or STN, on a fairly short sector to say a French provincial city, or perhaps foreign airlines utilise slots during mid morning or mid afternoon like Air Portugal. But which airlines?
In response to that earlier post about a bad experience at MAN, our own was considerably better but still raised one or two concerns. It was also a TOM flight from T2, with an early 06.10 departure. I too was surprised at the length of the queue for bag drop compared to normal airport check in, but it was well staffed and took less than 20 minutes, probably nearer 15 although I didn't time it exactly. It was a similar wait at security but I noticed only 5 of 10 channels were initially open although a 6th was just about to open as we reached the front by which time the queue had grown. The handling of the B767 didn't seem to go smoothly. There was a delay in loading the luggage containers and boarding didn't commence until less than 20 minutes before scheduled departure, not helped by the fact there was then only 1 person checking boarding passes and passports at the gate to start with. It did speed up but the Captain said there had been handling issues and, at 06.20 as the last pax boarded, he said that if we didn't get away inn the next 5 minutes (push chairs were still being loaded in the belly) ATC had warned we would be slot restricted. Fortunately we made it.
The return arrival also raised an interesting point but perhaps best left to a separate post. This one's long enough!