Tony,
Right, they put me on the next flight, so the delay was minimised.
You are generally OK if you're London-bound, given the number of flights, but most European destinations have only a single flight a day, so I guess EK would have to do a bit of juggling to sort those pax out; an earlier post from Oliver indicates that they are willing to do this.
My gripe is that they gave my seat away when they must have known that the incoming flight would land with enough time to make the connection.
cheers, chippy