The significance of MAN as a business destination is that it is not just the city of Manchester. It squarely serves the cities of Leeds, Liverpool, Sheffield and has decent market share in cities like Newcastle, Birmingham, Stoke, and the three East Midlands cities.
These are Some of the largest cities in Europe - but individually they are so much smaller than London they can get lost.
The eastbound carriers should present the model of how to make AA, UA & DL (now essentially VS) a success. I don't see this happening and I see TCX continue to eat their lunch at MAN, with VS and possibly BA entering the mix as and when to keep Norwegian at bay.