PV Sindhu, en route to All England Championship, stranded in Dubai as busiest airport shuts after Iranian attack

Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindh is stranded at Dubai airport after flight operations were suspended due to escalating tensions between Iran and United States-Israel. The development came in after the Indian shuttler shared a video of a chaotic Dubai airport on her Instagram story.

Sindhu was on her way to Birmingham to compete in the prestigious All England Open 2026, which starts from March 3. Dubai, which is the world's busiest airport, was Sindhu's connecting point to United Kingdom.

“All flights suspended until further notice,” captioned Sindhu on her video. According to a The Indian Express report, Sindhu was scheduled to take an Emirates Airlines flight to Birmingham from Dubai. The 30-year-old is travelling with her personal team, comprising a physio, Indonesian coach Irwansyah Adi Pratama, and a strength and conditioning coach.

Meanwhile, the Indian men's double pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have safely landed in Birmingham. Chirag took to Instagram to and posted “Safely landed in Birmingham before the USA struck Iran.” Indian badminton doubles coach Tan Kim Her, along with shuttler Dhruv Kapila were also seen in the post.

Sindhu, who is yet to win a All England title, enters the tournament unseeded. She will start her campaign in women's singles against Supanida Katethong of Thailand in the first round.

Indians at All England Championship 2026

Besides Sindhu, Unnati Hooda and Malvika Bansod are the two Indians in women's singles. While Hooda face Thailand's Pornpawee Chochuwong in the first round, Bansod face Chinese Chen Yufei. In men's singles, Lakshya Sen and Ayush Shetty take on world no.1 Chinese Shi Yu Qi and Alwi Farhan of Indonesia respectively in the first round.

In the women's doubles Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand take on Japanese pair of Sayaka Hirota and Ayako Sakuramoto while the men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty take on Kang Khai Xing and Aaron Tai of Malaysia.

Indian Embassy in UAE shares message

Meanwhile, the Indian Embassy in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has assured that the Indian passengers stranded at airports in UAE will be taken care of. "The Embassy and Consulate are in touch with the UAE authorities and airlines for taking care of the Indian passengers stranded at the airports in the UAE due to temporary and precautionary airspace closure.

"The UAE government and airline authorities have reassured full support," the Embassy wrote in a statement shared on X. The United States and Israel attacked Iran on Saturday. In retaliation, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard launched counterattacked Israel with missiles and drones strikes aimed at U.S. military installations in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar.

PV Sindhu breaks silence from Dubai

Breaking her silence, Sindhu informed that she is safe. "It’s hard to process what’s unfolding right now. Hearing the interceptions overhead and seeing how quickly everything has escalated is honestly terrifying. So many disturbing videos are coming to light, and this is sadly the reality of what is happening. Dubai is a city I deeply love, a place that has always felt safe and full of life, which makes this moment even harder to comprehend.

“To everyone who has been messaging and checking in, thank you, it truly means a lot. I am safe right now, stuck here in Dubai with my team, and we are doing okay as the situation around the war with Iran continues to evolve. The Airport is chaotic, with many families stranded and waiting, all of us just hoping we get past this soon,” she wrote on X.