Capn Rex
I understand that you are picked up about 2:15 before departure? Look at all the guys in Europe and US who are commuting. Many of them leave home a lot earlier and arrive hours before report. That never counts as duty. Or the guys living far from the airport. I flew with a guy the other day that had a three hour drive to get to work. With a report time of 0530 for a 9 hour 5 sector day you can imagine his level of fatigue in the end.
From a legal standpoint EK:s practice is definitely questionable. However, when it comes to fatigue I think the "commuting problem" in the west is worse. Remember Colgan Air.
Pixy
In my company (European major) sector in relation to FTL "includes a take off and landing". I believe that is straight from Subpart Q.