EK IS Dubai, and Dubai IS EK. They are so intertwined I don't see any kind of merger with the outfit in Abu Dhabi...

Reduced frequencies for some time I agree, but with EK created to service Dubai (above point) I would imagine that the eight hour stopover may become a 24/48 city break as the hotels and service industry are crying out for business! You'll see some excellent deals on flights and short stays here I'm sure.

EK is certainly as integral to Dubai as CX is to Hong Kong and will almost certainly receive significant state support if needed. EY and QR are copycats which jumped on the bandwagon when they saw that their similar geographic positions meant they could replicate the EK business model. In the post virus era, aviation may not be such a good investment and the willingness of the Abu Dhabi and Qatar rulers to sustain losses comes into question. Something to fly the flag, transport the migrant workers and take the rich locals shopping may be a better option than pouring money down the drain in search of world domination.

EY have already lost billions and an alliance with EK might be an acceptable option as both states are part of the UAE and their airports are within reasonable travelling time of each other. Routes, schedules and fares could be coordinated with benefits to both parties. Code share flights could give the option of EK one way and EY the other which may increase load factors and reduce transit times. An hour and a half coach ride between the two airports beats an eight hour wait for the next flight.

Qatar have very helpful in trying to maintain a network and get people home when other airlines were grounding their fleets, and are setting up to be first out of the gate with plans already in place to gradually resume their network in the near future. They have certainly earned a lot of goodwill from stranded pax. Unfortunately cracks are already showing in their finances and unless their increasing flight numbers are matched by increasing pax numbers, their days as a major world airline may be numbered. Flying around with the economy cabin half empty and no one in the pointy end won't be sustainable for ever.

Everything depends on the speed and form of the recovery which at the moment is giving some cause for optimism.

Rest assured, Roy, that your fears will not materialise. The ME3 will remain what they are and where they are, with their success in doubt, except maybe EK.
Taking over routes, as many fear on here, would need crew basings in Europe. Now the owners in the ME fear that more than the holy water.
Administrations that can't be told what to do and ...... (gulp!) UNIONS to deal with is their worst nightmare, even worse than mergers with other Arabs.
Not that they will disappear as formidable competition, no, but they will want to keep their business model as it is.