If MAN grows at an average of 3.5% and 4 based a/c per year, then by 2025 the pax numbers will be over 32m and additional stands required for 36 a/c. But we need to remember this growth is when there is construction going on and stand growth will be impossible. I hope they have good plans that can take the growth and get the airport standards back where they used to be, still nervous that this is too late, too little and very much too slow.
Much of MAN's problem is the very peaky nature of the traffic. The overnight parked and based a/c totally fill the apron. Most of these flights are then looking to depart between 6.30 and 8.00. This means the passengers to fill them are in the terminals early morning - filling them to near breaking point.
For that reason I now avoid flying at that time and take mid morning flights where ever possible. At that time, the terminals whilst still busy are far from capacity and are still capable occasionally of offering a pleasant experience.
Fly out in the afternoon and the observer will notice a lot of empty space on the apron. Basing more planes before capacity increases are in place would be folly. Instead MAN needs more away based planes flying in at those non-peak times to fill the gaps as Ryanair currently do.
it should give the excess capacity to allow the next part of T2 to be shut down to be competed
Why should part of T2 have to be shut down to build a new pier? (other than the temporary loss of 2/3 stands). The beauty of expanding by adding piers to an existing structure is that the existing terminal will still be able to operate near normally during the works. The average passenger will barely notice.