According to this article QF are going to start the flights in 2023...
If, as Joyce claims, 'over (sic) 75 per cent originate in PER' (for QF9, then that confirms that QFi has lost thousands of passengers per annum to/from LHR who previously travelled from/to MEL on what was the daily A388 via DXB.
Given that the seating configuration for the B789s is only 236 (fewer at present due to the enforced avoidance of Iran), and so about half of an A388, Joyce's comments indicate that there's an average of about 50 to 60 a day from MEL (or elsewhere other than PER) using QF9.
This compares to perhaps an average of 350 a day on the previous A388 'via DXB' route. (Not all these ex-MEL passengers were off to LHR, but let's assume that 250 of them were.) One day when I travelled, QF9 had under 300 passengers departing MEL but on the return, QF10 was full leaving LHR.
So when he crows in 2023 about some imagined 'success' of Project Sunrise, let's remind him that QFi must have lost market share from MEL to LHR (and elsewhere in Europe, since the connections in DXB were arguably easier than at LHR and didn't involve backtracking.)
And as for his claim of the fares to be at a '20 to 30 per cent premium', the market's rate of bookings will determine that (unless QFI wants to lose money.) QFi fares are already expensive.
However given the superior service on board airlines like SQ and the view of many that it's more pleasant to have a stopover, many travellers will still opt for one-stops to London, Paris or New York.