That may be the case for entry level positions with EK.
This is taken from the website for another major middle eastern company.
Captain
Narrow and Wide Body Fleet:
Valid ICAO ATPL license. Valid instrument rating.
Valid class one medical certificate
English language proficiency level 4 or above
Narrow Body Fleet: A minimum of 6,000 hours total flying time, Type rated on A320 Family with a minimum of 1,000 hours in command.
Wide Body Fleet: A minimum of 7,000 hours total flying time, of which a Minimum of 2,000 hours in command of multi-crew, multi-engine Jet aircraft in excess of 100.000kg MTOW. This may be reduced to 1000 hours for pilots who are type rated, have a current LPC and are currently flying on B777/B787/A330.
First Officer
Valid ICAO ATPL or Frozen ATPL license
Valid class one medical
English language proficiency level 4 or above.
A minimum of 1,000 hours in one of the following categories:
Multi crew, multi-engine jet aircraft
Command turbo-prop above 20.000 kg MTOW
High performance military jet. (Multi crew Cooperation Certificate required)
Or for a major Chinese company.
A330 Captains required for A330 Captain Positions
Boeing Captains B737, B767, required for B777 Positions - Opportunity to join China’s largest and fastest growing airline with global growth ambitions
- Competitive contract salary and conditions
- Contracts 2,3 or 4 years
- Some opportunity for reverse scheduling in Australian Ports MEL, BNE,SYD (A330)
- Transition/endorsement training B777 provided
In conjunction with China Southern Airlines (CSA) Pilot Recruitment Team, Business Aviation Australia (BAA) is seeking qualified and experienced A330, B737, B767, B777 Airline Captains interested in expanding their horizons with a fast growing and globally ambitious International Airline.
To be eligible to apply you must have flight experience of more than 6000 hrs Total, 3000Hrs PIC on A/C>50 Tons MTOW, and hold specific experience as Captain
- B767/B757/B737 = 2000Hrs
- A330 = 1000Hrs.
No mention of a degree.
Experience will always trump the degrees unless you are low time looking to get into the major, then they will use whatever means to cut the numbers.