It's very werid that a 777-300 cannot take off with cargo+pax+luggage+fuel for 9 hours from DXB... I have an operations background and find that very odd. Most probably they were offloading luggage of a NO-SHOW pax.
Typical phrase in a crew briefing "Communication guys" bla bla bla... how about if they sell that phrase to Ops as well? This is the 21st century and the EK aircraft have the latest technology to keep comunicated. Some airlines dream of having our aircraft and equipment, so let's make the most of it. And when we do, then (and only then) we will be number 1 in all areas again.