Pune, 4th March 2026: Indian travellers, including groups from Pune and Thane, remain stranded in Dubai after their return flights were unexpectedly cancelled, leaving them facing mounting expenses and uncertainty about when they will be able to return home.
Among those affected is Thane resident Anil Salunkhe, who travelled to Dubai with a group of six people on February 24. Their return flight was scheduled for March 3, but it was cancelled at the last moment, leaving the group stuck in the city.
Despite spending hours in queues at the airport and airline offices, passengers say they have received little clarity about alternative arrangements.
Salunkhe said the group received an email informing them that their flight had been cancelled just before departure. “We had booked our tickets through a travel portal, but their customer care has not responded. We have been standing in airline queues for hours, yet officials simply say they don’t know anything. Flights are being rescheduled, but even those are getting cancelled again, so we have no idea when we will finally reach home,” he said.
Passengers say the uncertainty has also led to rising expenses. Saraswati Patil from Pune said many travellers are now paying for accommodation and food from their own pockets.
“Our hotel booking has already ended and we have to pay for additional stay ourselves. Many people are running out of foreign currency. In Abu Dhabi, authorities have announced free accommodation and food for stranded travellers, but no such support has been provided in Dubai,” she said.
Patil added that their group includes ten women, most of them elderly, making the situation even more difficult.
Another stranded passenger, Sanket Fadtare, said the Indian embassy and the Ministry of External Affairs have only registered the travellers’ names so far. “Officials are calling to check on us, but there is no real help with accommodation or food. Instead of just making enquiries, the government should arrange special flights to bring us back to India or at least cover the cost of our stay until we can travel,” he said.
For now, the stranded travellers continue to wait in uncertainty, hoping the situation will stabilize soon and that they will be able to return home safely.
