Then throw in a guess how much most of their ground personnel earn. I cannot speak for Emirates since I didn't have the opportunity to speak with their people directly; however, when I lived there I spoke with security guards, people who worked on my villa, and people who worked in the mall -- they typically earned $2000 to $4000 a year, had their passports taken from them, and lived in spaces that would make the most ghetto crash pad feel like a palace. The way the oil monarchies treat their imported labor is criminal in most western countries.