Haha... Of course western airlines do the same.
Yes you are right about the flight time. You can log it if you return to stand due ANY issue. This is to cover the push and park in case of slots, plus stops guys building hours by running an engine and just sitting there to clock hours.
The sector issue, is it really that hard to complete a before takeoff checklist then an after landing checklist, then setup pretty much the same config and brief "As before"? What's really changed, what if you had to hold at the runway for two hours due wx and ATC delays? When does that become another sector?
I've been a commercial pilot for 15 years and still amazed how some people will try to get out of any extension of the day. There was one time we didn't exercise captain's discretion, it involved a bad day for wx, back of the clock flying and no cabin conditioning on the ground, which made it very hot and fatiguing. When we called a stop and explained to ops, the answer was "No worries understood, we'll sort the hotel.". This was purely down to safety as we had good reasons. Sometimes I think some are too quick to call fatigue or wolf, this then results in ops learning to push back, understandably so. There is a big difference between "I don't want to" and "I'm really shattered".
I've had a double hydraulic failure just after gear up on a 320 once, we returned. Got another aircraft and continued on our long day. I didn't feel particularly stressed by it, captain asked if I was good to go and honestly I was.
I'm sure there will be other opinions
