Granny Smith, you beat me to it.
Gentlemen please, this slanging match is not becoming, Euro ATC, give it a rest.
You have no idea about the competence of ALL of the Dubai controllers that you are disparaging, so it would probably be better to retire gracefully and agree to disagree.
Getting the thread roughly back on track, whoever said that it started to get more messy around 2-3 years ago is probably quite right.
That was when (for what seemed to us political reasons) UAE took over airspace and became the "piggy in the middle" of Muscat and Dubai.
The restrictions that were immediately placed on the aircraft did cause some concerns, back in the good old days, we just rang Dubai APP, and he would be happy to take, 5 miles, vertical or a combination of the two..I remember one telling me that it didn't matter, downwind was a long and lonely place and they only needed 3 miles!
Now of course we have silly vertical restrictions of F270 by TAPRA and PASOV (for all the pilots out there..this is NOT a Muscat requirement, we would by far prefer not to have to say it) and now two entry gates that don't have to be separated. Easier for us, but of limited value to the airlines that get slowed down or vectored for a trail through one or both points just to have it happen all over again by UAE.
I did mention earlier in this thread...if you are having to go to holding, 20 mile spacing or whatever...dont' keep it a secret!