There's one thing for sure. Easyjet are pretty shrewd. They will have researched this carefully and won't be much interested in the "Little Englander" approach or 6 year old statistics. 6 years is an age nowadays! If it proves unviable it will be dropped in short order. Personally, I wouldn't go to Russia either for Leisure or Business but there we go. How do all the incoming foreign tourists claimed for Manchester get here? Carrier pigeon? If I want a holiday abroad I don't want to be told I can't go because my local airport carbon footprint has been frozen and come back in the Winter. What tosh!! We are an island trading nation. Deal with it.