swap and commuting
The notice said you cannot swap a flight that has already been swapped. So it is still possible to do do several swaps a month.
I have been with EK for a year and a half, and for the last 6 months, have been able to enjoy between 1 week to 2 weeks in Europe every month. It involves careful leave planning and bidding, as well as a good monitoring of the loads and having several back up plans to fly back to Dubai!!! It is tiring, to be honest, and would only consider doing it on a short term basis...
I know of a few other pilots who manage to do the same, but only because our circumstances changed after having joined EK.
I hope this helps.
B.