Trader and Bananas:
Nobody implies that buying an Airbus entitles you to fly to Europe. Just as little as buying oil entitles you to fly into any OPEC country. Trade means you buy what you do not have and sell what you have. Since the early trading days there has always been some equilibrium between partners, not absolute numbers, but some balance, or one of the trade partners reacted. Today one of the most mentioned values is trade deficit or surplus, which is a huge reactive factor.
It takes little to detect how big the trade surplus is from the EU or Germany, or from Canada for instance. It also takes takes little economical basics to understand how much the Emirates orders of 380 and 350 aircraft means to Airbus and Europe.
The UAE can offer oil and airlift, the West the technology and equipment. To a certain extent one partner can certainly choose what to buy and to sell. But no western country would sell the ME oil rigging equipment without wanting a piece of the pumped oil. Just remember the rhetoric of 1973 when they initiated the oil embargo: "They buy our technology to pump oil but refuse to give us some. How utterly hypocritical!" Very true, as it was not balanced trade but political armwrestling. As today in a reciprocal way.
I do not like the moronic behavior of the ME spoilt elite. But I'm all for fair trade, something the West normally so fervently defends ..... at least as long as it serves them we realize now.