I rarely frequent the MAN thread, but just read this and thought you guys might like to mull this over, or completely discredit the article.
British Airways starting New York from Manchester
Apparently BA might be about take over the MAN-JFK route from American, and is mentioned the AA route is only on sale until the end of October.
(Is the route currently seasonal or operated all year round?)
They also mentioned BA has struck an agreement with Manchester Airport to move to T1 and take over a number of long haul gates at T1... Does this mean BA want to start long haul (?) or just allow room for OneWorld Ops to come together with AA (PHL/ORD) and Cathay Pacific (HKG).
Does this mean BA are coming late to the party, after noticing the success of Virgin Atlantic and Thomas Cook on Long Haul routes from the airport? Usually BA tries to avoid getting into blood baths and competing directly like this, but I wonder if they have no choice, and are noticing a drop in connecting traffic from the airport via LHR?
If this is true I wonder if they will go with the 787 or the newly announced Gatwick style 10 abreast 777's from MAN?
Or possibly maintain a small sub-fleet of 767's at the airport before they retire in a few years?!