This is a long running sore point for travelers based in dubai. Even a flight to Doha which takes 50 mins can cost 300 pounds in Y class and we pay more for outbound flights out of Dxb than if we had bought a return ticket in our destination. My personal belief is that Emirates makes whatever margins it does from Dxb based pax by creaming them for what it can. It doesn't help that etihad and they clearly have some sort of arrangement which keeps their prices similar while QR isn't much help cheaper if at all. Of course Emirates also benefits from the huge amount of business traffic based in DXb that must travel regularly to MCT KWI BAH RUH etc. without railway or driving options flying is the only way. Geopolitics and geography really work very well to EKs advantage.