If you are a MEL passenger and in particular a premium passenger I know they are pushing MEL-PER-LHR as the only QF metal option.
You can go via A380 to SIN but a 7 hour wait doesn’t work for the majority. Some first passengers that will pay anything and want P class are even going via SYD but only the die hard QF lovers. The rest go EK.
For J pax most save the 7 hour wait and have no choice now.
By removing a 500 seat aircraft and going to a 236 seater you don’t need to be a genuis to work out they are going to fill the replacement from both MEL/PER to LHR.
But cut capacity by that much to LHR and showing that your now filling one route sure is genius.
If you had an option to go SIN or PER to LHR from MEL and it was still full from PER then I would truly pronounce the game changed.