MAN is one of the UK airports I have flown the most to/from. There has certainly been made changes to the airports over the years - and far from all changes has been to the better. Many of my flights to MAN has been with SAS and it has been very noticable the changes of the quality the ground handler deliver (currently Swissport). I've also flown to/from 43 other UK airports, included BLK. Every airport have their pros and cons. I have my favorite airports/terminals for domestic flights and for international flights and some of them are a pure joy to visit. I will agree with BKS Air Transport - size counts and smaller airports shows a friendlier touch. But there is geographical differences too - unfortunately for the North West, none of its airports are among my favorites.