Introducing the Man-Fran: the new flight that wants to be as popular as NY-Lon

The ‘Man-Fran’ has launched - a new flight connecting Mancunians directly with San Francisco in California.

The route is part of a major drive to grow Manchester Airport and is the first of three new long-haul services to the US, courtesy of Virgin Atlantic.

The airline, the first to offer non-stops flights between the northern city and San Francisco, now boasts 26 per cent more seats out of Manchester than it had last year.

The inaugural flight was filled with representatives from tech companies from northern England, a nod to the potential business links available with the cream of Silicon Valley.

A new flight from Manchester to Boston with Virgin Atlantic has also just launched, while another, to New York’s JFK, starts operating in May.

A Thomas Cook flight to San Francisco from Manchester also takes off in May.

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The Man-Fran flight will take 11 hours and 20 minutes and backers hope it will encourage trade links and even “super commuting” between the two cities in the way that NY-Lon (New York to London) services did a decade ago, after Pan-am flew the first regular NY-Lon non-stop commercial service in 1947.

Mancunians apparently already know San Francisco as the “Amercian Manchester”, according to a survey by Virgin Atlantic.

The two cities are often beset with adverse weather conditions - in Manchester its rain, in Frisco it’s fog.

Mancunians may not know however that the blanket-like mist that envelops the iconic Golden Gate bridge has been named Karl and has its own Twitter feed.

Locals would also compare Manchester’s music scene favourably with the psychedelic rock scene that centred around San Francisco’s Fillmore auditorium in the Sixties, with shows from the likes of Santana, Jimi Hendrix and Jefferson Airplane.

Both cities are also known for their arty neighbourhoods and trams and both cities boast a vibrant gay scene.

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Manchester also provides comparisons to Silicon Valley, as the second biggest tech hub in the UK by number of jobs, with 52,000 working in a sector that produces £2.2billion in output a year.

“San Francisco is one of America’s great walking cities,” said our expert Sara Benson, a Frisco local. “With a good pair of shoes and a Muni ticket, you can see almost everything in the city,” she said in her guide for Telegraph Travel.

“Nature is a great part of the draw. San Francisco sits at the tip of the San Francisco Peninsula, with lots of walking and cycling trails all along the waterfront from the Embarcadero to Golden Gate Park. A short hop across the Golden Gate Bridge are Sausalito, Point Reyes National Seashore and Muir Woods.”

The food and wine is also world-renowned.

“To many Americans, San Francisco is the nation’s food and wine capital," our expert said.

“The city is awash with excellent restaurants, while its proximity to the Sonoma and Napa Valleys means that, in less than two hours, travellers can enjoy tastings at some of the best wine estates in the country. Those who dine out in the city also can sip some of California’s finest vintages, many of which are not exported across state lines.”