Pilots never seem to get this. High load factors and big numbers of seats sold are not the sole metric for profitability. Any airline can fill any size airplane on just about any route if it is willing to sell seats cheap enough. I'm not saying that EK is doing this or that they are not profitable. However, we will never really know with them because of state involvement with their finances.
Revenue management and yield per seat are critically important. Why do you suppose CX is willing to take seats out of long haul aircraft to offer premium economy? Because they are betting that this configuration will make more money. Surely the seats will be sold for greater profitability than economy, even when factoring in the reduced number of seats. Also, fewer punters equals fewer bags which opens more space for cargo. The A380 flies in the opposite direction.
In short, CX cares very little about low fare hunters crammed into the back by the lavs. They are only one step above non-rev travelers on the food chain. CX is after yield efficiency, not mass when it comes to revenue generation. Perhaps EK's business model supports more mass, but I'm not that familiar.