Originally Posted by Dudster
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"
Other airports are on the table for discussion and more, including from those in the UAE establishment that don't want to see Dubai "get it all". In other words, EK's "monopoly" won't be around forever as much of the UAE's government is not eager to let Dubai "have it all".
It must be remembered that more direct national government ownership of airlines and airport authorities/facilities exists elsewhere -- or existed elsewhere -- and that's been no guarantee of success. If anything, that's normally been a formula for lousy travel (with notable exceptions).