I can't see pax numbers declining too much for 2018, Monarchs demise won't be as hard hitting for LBA as it is for others, since they were only a 2 unit operation. I'm sure Ryanair (and/or Jet2) will easily pick up the slack.
As for new destinations, time will indeed tell. MPL can't have been a good seller for them, and Ryanair have been known to be pretty brutal when it comes to underperforming routes. I'm pretty confident if dropped,they'll match it with somewhere else