There is a well known, institutionalised discrimination against South Asian people throughout the Gulf states. Still, millions of South Asians live, work and travel there.

The airline acts no different than any other service organisation in the region. Caucasians/Arabs will always get priority over Indians/Filipinos/Africans.. Try getting a table at a mall restaurant in Dubai for example - no Indian/Filipino/African will be seated as long as a Caucasian/Arab is still waiting, even if the Caucasian/Arab arrives after them. They will often just ignore the first group and deal with the second instead. It's just the way things work there.