In general, is it not true that four departures per day will yield more profit than two? Especially four segments of four hours compared to a couple of 11 hour sectors with higher fuel costs per mile/km/parsec?
That said, I have no doubt that the 330 made money on the route. When QF abandoned AKL they also jettisoned a host of loyal FF members. Those customers will only be won back, if ever, at high cost. It was an idealogical (as opposed to just plain logical) move. In 45 years doing this I have seen some pretty dumb management moves. Robbing International to engage in a domestic pissing contest was one of the most pig-ignorant.
Every time that I fly a half load PER-MEL I wonder who is playing at The Met. Or The Gardens. Or if I should renew my subscription to "The New Yorker"?
Getting back to the initial premise of a silent seat sale: Many anecdotal indicators* show that the spending brakes have been hit hard. I have two car dealers ringing daily about specific new cars that I saw five weeks ago. That can't be good. This morning the line up at security was exactly one person long. Usually it is fifty or so.
*Some people collect stamps. I collect bad news. Judge accordingly.