All those dropouts make one point - it is just not worthwhile any longer doing flights which are not just simple out and back from base. Australia is too far to do this, fares achieved do tend to taper off with distance while costs rise significantly once you have to stop and recrew on the way. BA and Qantas meeting end-to-end in South-East Asia (all codeshared and possibly with all aircraft just branded OneWorld) really is the efficient way to go.