Posted by Red T Bar,
No,they lost most londons because GD wanted to save money and set up a london base.
The London C/C base
is an "out and back" operation to SIN, HKG & BKK (BKK currently operated by SYD crew). Have a think about all the changes that Dixon made in relating to crewing and look at the subsequent crewing patterns. The only reason that SYD C/C are operating to London at all is because of strong negotiation by your union to retain one service per day.
There is pressure on the Frankfurt operation - management has been looking at Jetstar A330/B787 operations into there. The biggest problem is the limited amount of freight that the twins will carry and we currently get a lot of revenue from freight in that port.
The problem with pilot bases in LHR (or FRA) is one of licencing. If Qantas could get
sufficient cheap pilots with residential status in the UK (or Germany) that hold an Oz ATPL (needed to fly Oz registered aircraft) they would try it (even though they know they would get serious industrial action). Qantas pick their times to have a stoush with unions so it's possible that they'll try it on in the future.