The calculation by Qantas is that they're the only airline that will do Project Sunrise because neither BA nor Virgin (as only UK airlines would also have traffic rights) would want to invest in small sub-fleet of Ultra Long Range aircraft. Willie Walsh also spoke against it when he was IAG CEO.

When LHR-SYD non-stop goes on sale it will be interesting to see what premium Qantas will charge - and it will need to do so to make up the significantly reduced seat count on aircraft.

Aside from the economics, anecdotally it is Australian point of sale bookings that are driving traffic on non-stop routes from Perth to Europe where Qantas also has an inherent advantage.