Good sources are telling me the extra 777's secured by Emirates to cover capacity shortfalls are not coming cheaply. Not that this has much effect on the emirates budget with plummeting gas prices but it may play into the Airbus/Boeing/Direct entry command argument.
Surely airlines such as Virgin Blue and Jet Airways where many of EK's commanders are speculated to be interested in, will opt for the cheaper alternative (Airbus). If just 20% of the Airbus Captains who say they want to leave go ,there will be enough new commands for everybody.