re: Rumour has it & Qantas [778 non-stop London from Sydney]
I have my strong doubts about this rumour. And not just because I don't have the info, but because it just seems, in and of itself, implausible.
First, you have to get a 777-8 aircraft somewhere. That's the first struggle for QF, and Boeing haven't started production on it yet.
Second, SYD-LON direct is about 20+ hours non-stop. No jokes. I just did SQ22 which is 19 hours non-stop. Thankfully it was in J (an aircraft specifically outfitted with all J). That's comfortable enough to do but many people will still strain at a flight like that even in premium (and be damned if they run out of drinking water on the flight).
If QF copy SQ in this way and configure the aircraft as all premium, then unless it has a killer product on board I don't see how it could ever be profitable (because QF will critically need to fill it up each time to make it economical). Even if it was limited to W, J and F, that's tough to break even unless QF really kill it in product and offer good ground service for such a flight (you need to give people a lot of comfort when they will be cooped up in a metal tube in excess of 20 hours!).
Now LHR-PER non-stop might be plausible (about 9000 mi, 500 mi more than SYD/DFW), and a rumour was put out that VS was boasting it could start such a service, but I believe they wanted to use 787s. LHR-PER-SYD on a QF 777 would be a novel service but still sounds implausible for other reasons. The range of a 777-8X according to Wikipedia (and sources within) is about 10909 mi; I wonder how it would stack up when it flies westward (i.e. in the direction of probable headwinds).
I suppose there's nothing really wrong with excitement but just saying this sounds implausible.
Now Emirates is the largest operator of 777s in the world, and I believe they have contributed quite a bit to Boeing for the upcoming 777-X models (including 777-8 and 777-9). I wouldn't be surprised if they will be the first ones to put an order on these variants. They could be operating lots of flights to Australia with these (but naturally they would stop in DXB). Who knows, maybe they will lease a few aircraft to QF (but I'd find that unlikely), but I'd still find it surprising if a SYD/LHR non-stop flight were considered.
