Aces
Oman Air has long been rumoured, as, their new terminal and location means they will be looking to emulate their MEB3 peers.
Whether there is enough room for 4 large hubs in the area remains to be seen (5 if you count Saudia, who, let's face it, have a sizeable network also).
However, Oman Air have a great on board product, a growing network and Muscat is a great city to visit in its own right. It won't take much to fill their Manchester flights with onward connections.
The issue with JAL, Korean, ANA et-al, is that the route will be largely O&D based, given the further east you go, the connection opportunities decrease. I do believe there is demand to serve a route, but, at what price (yield) is another thing.
the lack of an India carrier is probably due to the fact we have a large, and still growing, middle eastern contingent, which will make it hard for any Indian carrier to compete. BHX has Air India due to the ethnic population that demands the ATQ link, and, let's not forget, the MAN eastern portfolio is about 3-4 times bigger than BHX meaning we have far more competition to get things set up.
Worth remembering, we do actually have Air Canada at Manchester. The fact it is via their 'rouge' offshoot is purely a distraction, and given it seems to be the direction air Canada are taking, it's likely the best scenario we will get.
