Originally Posted by
Kagehitokiri
we are talking about transatlantic flights between US and EU (7 total including only 1 ME, and NZ is a 'special' case)
Right, now you've added in enough additional parameters to make your point valid, back to the original question. Why does a lack of fifth freedom routes in the past mean there is no business case to do it in the future?
Emirates was neither well-known nor respected in the US/EU until relatively recently. Nor did they have the range of partnerships with other airlines providing feeder flights that they have today. Even ignoring the fact they clearly had other priorities back then, there is absolutely no logic behind the claim that they haven't done it in the past ergo can't do it in the future.