The quiet rundown of Liverpool airport?

When I fly, my preferred departure airport is Liverpool, provided I can get a flight that meets my schedule.
My last two foreign holidays have been to Turkey and Malta. The two before were also to Turkey and Malta, in 2006 and 2007.
What was the difference? In 2006 and 2007, I was able to fly from Liverpool, in 2008 and 2009 I was not, due to the lack of flights.
The flight I got to Turkey from Manchester last week had the same flight number and timeslot as the one from Liverpool three years previously. Why move from Liverpool?
I also note that easyjet are now speedily expanding Manchester airport slots, flying to the more popular holiday destinations from Manchester, but have not added any significant new routes or investment in Liverpool. I further note that my favourite person (not!!)Michael O'Leary of Ryanair has been very quiet about Liverpool airport lately. Very unusual for him!! It should also be noted that Ryanair have cut routes and an aircraft that was based in Liverpool.
Is this a start of a very quiet rundown of services from Liverpool, to be replaced by routes from Manchester instead? There certainly appears to be far less charter flights than in recent years. Maybe I'm just getting cynical in my old age!!