I like the idea of a 4 or 5 hour flight from Sydney to Perth and then non stop to Europe. I don think there is much difference from the current options of 15 and 7 hours. I think for Qantas they dont have to code share and they keep more cash in Australia while having better control of the expenses.
Any flight longer than about 8 hours messes my system, so wandering around a strange airport for a few hours in a daze is hardly my idea of fun. I prefer nonstop even if it is 20 hours. Give me the A380 everytime please.
There must be something fundamentally wrong with airline operations if you cant make a profit on a near full flight or are management are trying to pump up bonuses :)