Ahh, yes, that would be the same Geoffrey Thomas who assured us some years ago that it would be VIRGIN who would fly PER - LHR with their 777's.
This has to be one of the most talked about routes that has never eventuated. I think it could work with an aircraft like the 787-9 decked out for it, and I think that if QF used the 787 to re-establish routes to SIN, HKG and NRT again, it would give QF a reasonable body of international flying out of Perth to make it a viable option. In the 'good ol days' we have three flights to SIN a day (one of which was a 747), and four flights a week to HKG and three or four to NRT. Now QF runs a solitary 737 to SIN.
Making part of the old Virgin terminal an international gateway for one flight a day to LHR, does not make a lot of sense. The market is probably there for a 787 sized aircraft, but it would have to be daily, and it would have to attract enough people willing to fly 17 and a bit hours (+ diversion time if req'd). Personally having done SYD-YVR a couple of times, I can't think of a more horrible travel experience than 17-18 hours in any aircraft. Yes the 787 is a notably more comfortable aircraft to fly in, but not for this long.