I certainly remember the QF 747SP service into and out of WLG - I was present the day of the inaugural, and even did a guest flight over that weekend. I even attended a lecture given by the Chief Pilot - a month or two later that he gave at the Australia New Zealand Association that used to meet monthly at the Aust High Commission in Hobson St.
The Service was eventually handed over to 767 service, as more frequent service was preferable to 3 days a week SYD WLG SYD which is used to be in winter.
An expansion into Evans Bay is gathering a lot of protest - Evans Bay is a great bay and would change for ever with a runway extension to the north. I personally would prefer an reclamation to the south but cannot comment on the tech issues that could cause.
Someone made a comment that Newlands needed a nuclear bombing, in my opinion - not much at Newlands that would be missed. I was sropping a rental car off a at WLG in Nov 2009 when my eyes saw something Gold sitting on the tarmac - yes it was a Gulf Air Airbus - the Kiwi Soccer team was playing Bahrain that weekend , I guess it was flying on a low load . Got pics to prove it.
Long Haul service to Asia would be a huge improvement - and could be marketed very successfully.
I could even be tempted to live in WLG again if that were to happen