The assistance EK receives is rather indirect. Much of it revolves around the airport. For instance, there is only one ground handling agent at DXB -- Dnata, which is owned by EK. All other airlines at DXB must use Dnata for all services (ramp, ticketing, pax handling, etc.). Dnata's fees are quite high compared to airports where services are competitive (e.g. most of Europe). The govt perserves this monopoly for EK which forces other airlines to subsidize EK. Want catering? Your only choice is Emirates flight catering. Who was contracted for all of the IT infrastructure for the new terminal at DXB? Mercator, EK's systems integration subsidiary. If the government were to allow competition for all of these services, EK would be much less "profitable"