As far as I'm aware, London to Dubai alone has seven daily A380 flights. More generally, Emirates have gone for a single daily A380 flight instead of more frequent flights to many destinations.
People aren't actually going to Dubai. DXB is an extreme of course, but trasnfer passengers represents a huge part of the activity for many hubs: 30% of passengers at LHR are in transfer, and more than 50% at ATL!
Plus with current flight lengths, you need a stopover somewhere. That is changing, though.. with Perth-London direct opening soon. That's a long time to be on 1 plane though. And it's only a little shorter (1-2h) than going via DXB.
(I'm in Perth)