But for Qantas to operate just to the Middle East - not viable. Also consider that the Middle East market is heavily saturated with capacity
And if Emirates and Etihad were restricted to Aus/ME uplift/discharge, then they may elect not to operate at all to Australia. They are operating to/from Australia to capture end-to-end Aus/UK-Europe traffic, make no mistake. With the excess capacity they offer, the yields are also probably quite low but they have the wherewthal to absorb it - for now. These carriers are no more than leeches, parasites - call them what you will.