I see this every year.
The price will come down closer to flight time.
Usually in November or December they drop the fares.
I remember fares are usually around $300 and they can drop as low as $250 round trip.
Considering January usually is a slow time after the New Year I would expect the fares to come down and the Q and O bucket to open up.

I also noticed the flight is an early morning flight with the return later in the day.
It used to arrive late and stay overnight.
I guess they need the aircraft somewhere else.