My final words on EK.
Load factors - When the flight isn't full the booked business load factor (paid for seats before the upgrades for airmiles start) will normally exceed economy. When 'old' 3 class a/c come in (12/42/310) it is not unusual for the booked business figure to exceed 42, 54 happens often enough to be not classed as out of the ordinary and is sometimes the reason for the 3 class to be scheduled.
Under the floor are up to 44 ULD positions, it is normal for all positions to be used and having nil fit on the outbound load plan is unusual. Several times a year the inbound cargo figure exceeds 27,000kg, the maximum outbound figure has exceeded 29,000kg with a full passenger load! Normal loads exceed 10,000kg.
As I stated before, BHX is normally amongst the top 4 yielding routes in the EK system. The flight numbers and timings for the 3rd service are known, the flights will start when it fits in with the plan. There are other priorities for the new a/c coming on line which are more urgent than BHX. The only people who know where we are on the list work in DXB, they will tell us when they are ready but we are on the list!