The wife and I travel to UK with QANTAS most years and this year will be the first that does not route through Singapore, where we have always stopped off on the way back for 4~5 days as we love the place.
I cannot imagine staying in Dubai in the same way. We travel J class and none of the flights direct from Adelaide have horizontal flat beds so we go to Melbourne for A380 flights. Having an alliance with Emirate and having some flights route through their hub has some validity, especially when you want to visit European countries, but to cut out Singapore as a primary alternative seems a little over the top as a reaction and would outwardly appear to be a back door way of further promotion of Jetstar over QANTAS. One can only assume that AJ is simply implementing the strategic plan that the board has agreed to, which can make you question at times their competence.