Also well documented was that when Canada rejected EK, the UAE cancelled the facility for Canadians to get a visa on arrival and substituted by a 15 day advance requirement with no refund if the visa was rejected. The $1000 visa fee caused disappointment, so did the forced closure of the Canadian military facility near Dubai (supporting Canadians in Afghanistan). All because EK didn't get what they wanted in Canada. Perhaps the government and the airline were too close.
This is what happens when airlines are too close to their governments; they each try to protect their airline, and what's really a commercial argument becomes a diplomatic incident where things get massively out of hand.
It also strengthens the argument people make about EK getting sweetheart deals on fuel/terminals/taxes from the Dubai government, but that's another story.
If EK can argue that having the right to fly transpac gels with its strategy of its alliance with QF and supporting its alliance partner, then I think they have a chance of getting it up (past the Australian government at least, who knows what the Americans will say).