Certain airlines from 'the sandpit' are alleged to obtain heavily subsidised fuel prices
I worked for EK for a few years & not once did we tanker fuel out of Dubai, to any destination. If they get subsidised fuel, you would imagine that they would be tankering all the time.
Wages are vastly different in certain areas or zones of the planet - and some of these are not too far away...
Surely the greatest impact from this, is the cost difference for management & head office staff. A good reason to keep those areas lean. Perhaps they could be outsourced! AJ & his team could relocate to Bangladesh & be paid local wages there.