last Saturday EK was denying boarding to all pax heading to europe. There was a laundry list of flights that were displayed on a notice at the check in counter. And people ( mostly pissed off people were being handed forms - not sure what they were ). The staff there ( all contract agents ) were being understanding and helpful, one guy actually helped a few people with suggestions to fly in to FCO, MXP , VCE i.e. cancel their existing booking and rebook then catch trains. Not sure if anyone took the options.

Either way I figured that EK was denying boarding because it makes financial sense for them. If they leave the pax stranded in DXB halfway through the journey they will be liable to pay for hotels etc.