I think that until EI decides its future on long haul, any bets on expansion are off. I don't for a moment expect that it would give up long haul, but I can see some significant trimming back. I don't see long haul from LGW or BFS happening anytime soon.
I'm interested to see whether the A350 order survives the current fleet review. The current plan is to have a fleet of six -900s, no -800s. Now, the A359 in current EI config will seat close to 400, not far off the old 747's capacity but the comparison to the 747 is relevant in another way; how do you innovate on new routes with an aircraft of that size? It seems quite likely that EI could end up being pushed back into three core routes (ORD, BOS and JFK) and goodbye to the likes of SFO, IAD and particularly, any long haul outside the US.
Sure, the world economy will have recovered by the middle of the next decade, but other airlines, flying smaller aircraft, will be in a much better position to benefit from this, particularly in an Open Skies environment.
Personally, I think that an aircraft of the 787's size, 250-300 pax, would probably be a better choice for EI and offer it the potential to expand its North American network - and beyond.