Folks,
It is a reasonable statement to make to say that: If Qantas had had a fleet of B777 in recent years, carrying the same number of passengers as the combined B747/A380 fleet, the fuel operating cost difference would have eliminated the widely publicized "international" losses of the airline. Or, at worst, reduced the losses to the degree that the QF corporate bias against "international" operations may not have been so marked.
Or put another way, having the wrong aircraft in times of high fuel prices (or any time, really) puts you at a huge competitive AND financial disadvantage, vis a vie the airlines who have the best equipment available --- and who are now rolling over old B777 fleets into new B777 (or A350 - maybe) fleets -- CX, BA and one of the world's biggest(~140) B777 fleet operators, Emirates, CZ etc., to name only a few.
Tootle pip!!