There were some fare paying customers that were originally booked JFK to MEL via LAX and offered the opportunity to transfer to this service.
The other issue that will dilute QF’s hype around these ‘new’ services is that they’ll simply be copied once airlines also get access to the metal. Expect Delta, United, BA etc., to do the same. This won’t be unique to QF. Yield will be diluted and then the economics might not stack up on the basis of fuel and the burn penalty to carry it.