Not entirely fair comment IMHO. There is a big difference between a juicy rumour and a firm announcement. Hainan is a rumour. I honestly wouldn't rush to 'congratulate' a rumour. Most experienced contributors are very wary where rumours are concerned … too much can still go wrong. When Cathay Pacific was *confirmed*, pages of discussion rightly ensued. There was also healthy discussion of the Thomas Cook long-haul announcements. Confirmed positive developments generally do receive the attention they deserve on here. The main driver on this thread seems to be the perceived magnitude of the news item rather than whether it is perceived to be 'good' or 'bad'. That seems healthy to me. There are plenty of examples of 'bad news' stories receiving little or no attention on here as well as 'good news' items.
One example of bad news receiving no attention: Tripoli Airport was captured by Islamist extremist militia during the weekend. They burned down airport buildings and 'danced around wrecked airliners'. Charming and highly educated bunch. I think we can safely say Libyan's MAN-TIP schedule is a goner for the long term. Although in this case, our main concern has to be for the suffering of those innocent Libyan civilians who are not in thrall to barbarism reminiscent of the Middle Ages.
Meanwhile, on the subject of trains. Did anybody notice that the May 2014 timetable reorganisation left Manchester Airport with through-trains beyond York to Newcastle axed? Change at York … not good news for pax with luggage to consider. I didn't see 2-3 pages on that one either.
For me, this thread has it about right. Each discussion topic - positive and negative alike - receives the attention it merits. I have little interest in either moaning about or celebrating news snippets on here. I don't want to see the thread develop an irrational sunny / gloomy 'editorial slant'. My aim is to objectively assess and analyse developments at MAN with a view to forecasting future trends with some modicum of accuracy. Like most here, I welcome success at the airport. But for the emotional partisan cheerleading stuff it is far better to stick to the Etihad Stadium!
Last edited by Shed-on-a-Pole; 27th Aug 2014 at 02:19.