Dubai is developing faster than a Kodak film. Numerous apartments are being built, and money is no object. Developers are now starting to target monied private individuals in the West, and it won't be long before everyone wants to go there.
At that time, it will sustain flights from UK regional airports much as Almeria and Murcia do now. Because of the distance and the fact it's outside the EU, we can expect both UK and Dubai-based carriers to share the routes. I would expect it to feature increasingly, perhaps as a winter destination, in tour operators programmes, so expect to see it served by the likes of Britannia & Thomas Cook, as well as Emirates.