Originally Posted by
Shrike200
If you are over 30 by a small margin the doctor who does the entry test (more basic than the full medical) will probably advise you to lose weight, but it shouldn't affect your success. I don't know at what point it starts to become a problem for entry, but a friend laughed at me when telling me this, as he knew of some 'heavy' people who were already in, and it seemed that the implication was once you're in, it's a lot more lenient. I'm not sure what the GCA (? the UAE CAA, don't know the actual abbreviation) actually want, but I was told that BMI is a factor in their medical, and it must be 30 or under (again, it seemed like there were people there passing regularly who were over that, I don't know for sure, I'm not there). I was told that Emirates want a BMI of 29 or under on their online submission (second stage) as you have to enter your height and weight, and they explicitly state on the online form that it must be 29 or under. If you don't qualify, they email you to explain why, and that you must resubmit when you are within those limits.
All second hand information from friends, sorry.
Update: If you're over a BMI of 30 when you do the interview medical screening, they will email you and tell you to get a signed report from a doctor stating that you're at 30 or under when you are able to. Your application will not proceed unless this is done, but will remain on file for six months. This is directly from a person I know who had it happen to them.