Yeah, this is my take on it too. Better sleep pattern on the longhaul /shorthaul combo than on 2 semi-longhauls. At least on midnight departures from Asia.

For instance AY70 from HKG. Full day in HKG, then a 10,5 hours flight that allows long uniterupted sleep. Sleep until landing - miss the breakfast but that is what you use the european shorthaul for! Arrive back in europe when the business day starts, which really helps you adjust into the new time zone.

QR offers a midnight flight too, and it is 9,5 hours to DOH so that is pretty much the same sleeping opportunities. But then there usually is a 3-4 hours layover and then 5-7 hours flight to Europe. And the time for that layover in DOH is at 02:00-06:00 CET, so it is in the most in-opportune moment if you are trying to adjust your clock.

Totally agreeing with awestphal that the QR flight to Europe is way better than the AY short haul in comfort terms, but the combination of longer flight time and long-ish connections isn't perfect. That is why I said I hope they will trim down the connection times.