For the last 2 summers, it seems to me that MAN has taken a calculated risk by deciding that it would be financially beneficial to convert 12 a/c stands into car parking which has taken away a fair amount of apron space.
Quite aside from the issue of space for diversions, available stands must be very tight for normal operations at night and first thing in the morning. I happened to be on level 13 of the MSCP at 06.00 one day recently before the early departure rush started. There was very little space on T1 or T2 or the remote stands and I'm sure T3 was the same. It did idly cross my mind that if there were long delays to a significant number of those flights - for example due to the French ATC strike which was then looming - there could well be a problem when MAN's early arrivals wave started at 07.00, notably the long hauls from the States and the Middle East. It may well be that MAN's decision can be justified if there is no serious disruption, and it was suggested elsewhere that the airport will be getting all the stands back at the end of this summer. Is that still the case does anyone know? Ironically, there were a couple of occasions a few months ago when MAN did accept several w/b diversions in a short period of time from LHR after 07.30.
The question of the ability and willingness or otherwise of handling agents to accept diversions because of staffing issues is unfortunately not a new one but seems no nearer to being resolved.