Just some musings on this. The profile of MAN's widebody operations has evolved significantly since 2019. The airport had a very respectable slate of widebody-operated services back then, and it still has. But the composition of those has changed radically.
Based fleet widebodies see the main change. Back then we had Thomas Cook A330's - a morning could see seven of them on the ground simultaneously. TUI could see a combination of around six B763/B788/B789. Virgin had a larger based operation than now, including B747-400's, one would generally sit around all day (spare?). We also had a healthy quota of based TOM/EXS B757's which required larger stands due to wingspan.
And now? Thomas Cook are gone. TUI B763's, gone. Virgin B744's, gone. Being generous, a 2025 morning could see a typical 5 Virgin A330/A35K on the ground simultaneously; TUI 4 B787's; and we've added 2 Aer Lingus UK A333's. There are no based B757's left. Jet2 bring in 2 A332's over Summer, but these don't follow long-haul timetables, being used to the Med and the Canary Islands (as are two of the TUI B787's). They can be airborne and on their way by 07:00. Based fleet widebodies are the ones that we must presume will be present during the morning peak, though TUI have exceptions to that from L/H destinations in the East, as well as S/H. Virgin's Las Vegas flights don't land until close to midday. L/H based-fleet numbers are substantially reduced since 2019, and there are no signs of imminent expansion at scale from these carriers in the medium term.
So the main consideration for widebody contact stand access shifts to visiting carriers. Let's look at them.
Emirates & Qatar Airways operate three rotations per day, morning / lunchtime / evening; they are scheduled to avoid overlap. So they require just one contact stand each. Etihad operates two daily which don't overlap either. And their morning one operates so early that it's stand is vacated for re-use by 08:25. The first daily Qatar is away even earlier at 07:45; the first Emirates leaves at 08:50. Many of our other regular long-hauls haven't arrived by then. By lunchtime and evening, when the subsequent MEB3 services arrive, pressure on widebody contact stands has eased. Morning is the peak-demand period.
Cathay, Juneyao and Hainan each have a daily service which arrives early and leaves mid to late morning. Count them as one peak stand each. I'm expecting similar for Singapore Airlines, though their schedule will adjust to reflect dropping the Houston extension (sadly, one fewer widebody than previously on the former IAH days of operation). Gulf Air - not yet daily - arrives early and leaves at 10:25, so they need peak-time stand access too.
Ethiopian Airlines' A359 arrives around 08:15 and daystops. But it deplanes over an hour or so, then is towed remote until evening, when it is towed back to a contact stand. There is no pressure on stands by then.
Saudia and Kuwait Airways (A339's this Summer) arrive after the morning peak is over; they should not be a problem for contact stand access.
Air Transat is largely a narrowbody A321neo operation these days, so they are usually removed from the equation. Their couple of A330's per week tend to arrive after the morning peak. Air Canada's short-season B787 schedule operates with a later arrival too, after the morning rush has gone.
Bangladesh Biman is an evening operation; no issue at all there. I haven't seen proposed timings for the potential Indigo / Nordic B789's yet, but they won't necessarily require peak morning ops? And, should PIA be approved to return, we can anticipate a resumed evening operation from them too. No problem. Likewise Air Blue, though they could be using narrowbody A321's anyway. EgyptAir and Royal Jordanian currently use narrowbody types outside the peak period as well. No issues with stands for those. THY Turkish are now 4x daily using mainly A321neo's; when they do use widebodies, we generally see them on the teatime service.
Obviously, MAN has ambitions to woo back the major US carriers; they will certainly require peak morning contact stand access. BUT ... by the time they do show up again, we may be talking A321neo operations. There are many more contact stands available to them.
I would suggest that MAN does need to add more widebody contact stands for future growth and resilience. But the opening of Pier 2 will really help with the immediate problem. Given that based fleet widebody ops VIR/EUK/TOM/EXS do not appear to be in expansion mode, I suspect that we will see a continuation of widebody contact-stand demand being spread more evenly across the day. Our long-haul operators don't overlap to anything like the extent they used to. That will bale us out until more concrete can be poured to extend the apron. And remember - even should we be fortunate enough to attract a new long-haul name - it is likely to require just one stand for two hours on three days per week. A new based B38M/A20N presents a much stiffer challenge to the planners.
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