NCL is extremely fortunate to have a daily EK B773 to Dubai.
Sometimes, the harder you work, the luckier you get...
The point SOF was making is that EK is not your normal long-haul airline and can make things work where others can't (A380's into GLA!
). So just because EK works at STN, doesn't mean others will
MAG could come to a deal and persuade Singapore Airlines to operate from London Stansted. My personal opinion would be for Singapore Airlines to operate Singapore to Houston via London Stansted rather than via Manchester. London Stansted would have two major carriers with Emirates and Singapore Airlines and this could persuade other long haul airlines to consider London Stansted for future expansion possibilities.
The routing would give STN a North American link to the west and one heading east to Southeast Asia.
And would remove from MAN a link to the west, and one to the east. Why would MAG want to do that? Clearly they would want SQ at STN, but surely not at the expense of MAN.