MD11 - I just looked at the website and I didn't see anything specific mentioning October. Perhaps you could give us a hint.
With regard to the general discussion of widebody flying, there will always be a market below the level of service and price provided by EK. And that market is huge in terms of potential passengers. There are more cheap passengers out there who don't want to pay EK prices.
Also, when the A330s depart the EK fleet, the smallest airplane in their fleet will be the A350-900 (or perhaps the 777-200LR?). So, FD could be used to build DXB/DWC feed on certain leisure routes or on routes too thin for the A350. That said, AirAsiaX, Cebu Pacific, Scoot and other LCCs are using A330-type aircraft on longer haul flights. There is a void in the low-cost market for medium and long haul flying that new technology can exploit - that is why Norwegian Longhaul is giving it a try and AirAsiaX, Scoot and others are attempting to tap into it.
FlyDubai has a good brand in the ME, India and in Eastern Europe and they can find opportunities to funnel more traffic to EK - especially with their new Business Class product. I see widebodies as a natural extension of their current service (especially to medium/longhaul leisure routes not served by EK in SE Asia) - and yes, more than 4 hours on a 737NG seems like an eternity...
