Lets face it, QR never needed the A340-600s.
It was a publicity stunt to be launch customer of the HGW versions, together with being the showcase for the first class lounge!
The A340-600 is a flawed design by Airbus, with complaints from virtually every operator so far!
One thing I wonder about though, the article mentions the setup of Oryx lease company, through which they want to lease out the A340s and older A330s. Who wants to lease an airplane like the A340HGW?
Its costly in every aspect, everytime it lands there is an inherent risk for an incident and you need a routestructure with routes over 12hours in order to make any money with it...
Strange world of aviation...