Fat Dog,
Its EK and its their total package. For a new Captain if you just look at basic pay it is 28,000aed/mth (3888 pounds).
To that you add 10600 for a house, up to 3333/child, 12% into prov fund 3360 and say 1,000/mth for medical. Three kids, wifey and add it all up and it comes to: 52500aed/mth or 7291 pounds but you still actually take home 3888 pounds. As a Brit probably the basic plus housing gives a better idea of comparative pay so that would be 38,600aed or 5300 pounds/month. Alternatively just look at the pay that you have after you have paid for you mortgage and see how that compares to the 3.8k.
Don't know why, but it doesn't seem to go very far though and is getting eroded by the pace of inflation. The deal was stunning 15 years ago but just seems to be drifting slowly downwards. Most people don't leave EK for the pay rate they leave for 2 reasons:
1. Had enough of Dubai - it gets old quickly, that is why EK put a 7 year service requirement on the pilots to get their cash out of the fund.
2. Constant back of the clock max hour rosters.
Schnowzer