The trend does seem to be continuing upwards.
Back to some of the concerns on some US routes, as said, a LOT has been added in the past 18 months with more to come, so, it was obvious the passenger figures would be in a slight state of flux while it settles in.
What's worth remembering, we now have one of the largest USA programmes MAN has ever seen, and more destinations/flights than a lot of European 'big hitters', and said big hitters can fill their flights with transfer passengers (such as Dublin) while the majority of MAN passengers are O&D with only a small amount of feed, predominantly from flybe.
Then we need to consider the fact that the majority of MAN pax are outbound, and in quite uncertain times with the £/$ rates, it's a big ask.
So, to fill up all those flights is going to be a tough call, it's going to need a bit of patience, but, as long as all the carriers can weather the turbulence, it should come out the other side in relatively good health.
I do expect a casualty or 2 along the way, notably PIA switching JFK to Leipzig (but that doesn't affect MAN in a big way anyway), and unfortunately I don't think the UA flight to Washington will return after next summer (barring a miracle), but, we should have a new USA destination announced soon, and of course Norwegian have yet to play their hand (they have said NYC is a route but we await any further news).
The next year or 2 is going to be interesting, and if we can keep the majority of what we have in tact until we get pre-clearance, then we should be ok.