Boomerang Butt,
Slight drift here, but wasn't the issue flying over the Himalayas why QF got the 767RR (22mins oxy as opposed to 12min on the GE)?
The 763s Qantas ordered from Boeing, are CF6-powered.
The RR-powered 767s in Rat colours are the 7 leased from BA, which runs an only-RR 767 fleet. BA was happy to lose some capacity, QF was scratching for some, looks like everyone kicked a goal. They've not been used for runs up to Europe.
do sometimes wonder why QF didn't palm the 767s off to Jokestar and use the new A330s on routes where they are gunning for Premium pax
Lower seat/mile costs mean that you can make a profit on lower margins - the key to survivability for a LCC.
Also if your premium pax are only on it for a couple of hours, they don't really care what it is, as long as it's on time.