West Asia conflict: 84 MBA students from Pune stuck in Dubai

Eighty-four MBA students from a Pune-based institute were stranded in Dubai after airspace closures triggered by the conflict in West Asia, the institute said on Sunday (March 1, 2026).

The students of the Indira School of Business Studies (ISBS) had gone to Dubai as part of an annual five-day study tour. They were safe and shifted to a hotel, ISBS officials said.

While 40 students were scheduled to return to Pune on Saturday (February 28, 2026), the remaining 44 were to board a flight on Sunday (March 1, 2026). However, due to the West Asia conflict and the subsequent closure of airspace, they could not travel, the officials said.

“All are safe and have been moved to a hotel,” ISBS Dean Janardhan Pawar said.

The MBA students and staff went to Dubai as part of a study visit. However, the airspace was closed and as a result they were stranded, Indira Group of Institutes Chairperson Tarita Shankar said.

“All students and the staff are safe. We are in constant touch with them. We are also coordinating with the Ministry of External Affairs as well as with the Ministry of Civil Aviation. They will be brought back at the earliest,” she said.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in an attack by Israel and the United States, Iranian state media confirmed early Sunday (March 1, 2026).

Flights across the Middle East were disrupted, and air defence fire thudded over Dubai, the United Arab Emirates’ commercial capital, it said.