Thanks guys,
My personal situation is that my wife and I would rather live in Hong Kong than Dubai.
Although we've never been to either, we get the impression that if you don't like Dubai- tough, you either put up with it or leave the company. Cathay, I understand, gives you the option to have a 4 month temp base every year and re-location on upgrade to F/O.
I'm also led to believe that in Dubai, females have much less respect and quality of life than in HK. She certainly won't be happy being locked in a compound sitting by a pool sipping cocktails all day, although understandably, I know this is very attractive to some spouses. For a holiday, maybe, but not ten or even twenty years.
Thanks for the input.
John Milton