Hubbing out of HK was great, allowed for all sorts of shopping to be done on a stopover etc etc etc. Not so easy these days.
As for codeshare, I get the crew savings in terms of distances and sick cover etc but do you really have to share with BA? They always seem so miserable whenever I fly with them, to the point I actively avoid BA if at all possible.
Yeah baby.
I adore Hong Kong and have tried hubbing it twice with Qantas. The first time we got dumped onto a BA Jumbosaurus from HKG to LHR with dodgy aircon and several non-working toilets. It was full to the extent that there seemed to be passengers allocated to overhead locker bins. The crew did try their best but it was an endurance marathon for everyone concerned.
The second trip was a QF codeshare with CX who were good when we finally bullied our way onto the aircraft, but the transfer process was like something out of a Medicare office. Long queue, shut counter, passenger faces filled with hopelessness...Chekhov could have written a play about it.
On both occasions the Qantas legs were reasonably good (despite the usual confusion about Qantas' Higgs Bosun-like special meals; they theoretically exist, but have not yet been observed by reliable witnesses
) but the hassles were not worth the effort. It's easier (and often cheaper) to fly with someone else, and that's the whole Qantas problem.