I think the most important phrase in Voodoo's well-balanced post is this one:
Compared to going back to the UK
...with the emphasis on the last word in that phrase - and among the expat population in Dubai, it's always been thus. The Brits simply love the place (and can't imagine why everyone else doesn't too) because it's
not the UK, while many non Brits, (at least those from First World countries), wish circumstances allowed them to hold down the EK job but be living in their home countries.