Global Mobility News from VisaHQ

Finnair reported a 29 % jump in Q4 2025 operating profit to €61.7 million and issued bullish guidance for 2026, expecting 5 % capacity growth and up to €190 million in profit. The stronger finances mean better seat supply and lower counter-party risk for Finnish and multinational travel buyers.

The Meloni cabinet has cleared a draft law empowering authorities to bar migrant-carrying ships from Italian waters for up to six months and to send intercepted migrants to third countries. The bill dovetails with the EU’s newly adopted Migration & Asylum Pact and could reshape Italy’s border-management regime, with knock-on effects for humanitarian groups and businesses moving staff by sea or using seafarer contracts.

IRCC has extended the policy that lets International Experience Canada participants activate subsequent work permits entirely from within Canada. IEC workers can now request the new permit online and receive it by post, avoiding costly trips abroad after Ottawa banned “flagpoling.” The move eases labour-supply headaches for Canadian employers and signals a long-term commitment to youth-mobility talent.

Pilots’ and cabin-crew unions will stage a coordinated 24-hour strike at Lufthansa on 12 February, forcing mass cancellations at Frankfurt, Munich, Düsseldorf, Cologne/Bonn and Berlin airports. The walk-out threatens to disrupt at least 120,000 passengers, many of them business travellers. Companies should prepare rerouting and remote-work contingencies as further industrial action remains possible.

The UK Home Office has widened the BN(O) visa so that adult children of status-holders – provided they were under 18 at the 1997 hand-over – can apply on their own, along with partners and children. About 26,000 extra Hongkongers are expected to benefit, easing family-separation issues and enlarging the UK-bound talent pool. Employers should revise mobility policies immediately, as beneficiaries will still need to pay visa fees and secure the UK’s new Electronic Travel Authorisation.

Minority rail unions kept up a third day of strikes on Málaga’s Cercanías network on 11 February, slashing services on the crucial C-1 and C-2 coastal lines. The walk-out, sparked by safety concerns after two deadly accidents, is disrupting employee commutes and airport transfers at the height of the tourist-booking season. Companies are incurring extra transport costs and productivity losses while regional authorities scramble to broker a broader safety plan.

Sindicatos de pilotos e comissários da Lufthansa paralisaram voos por 24 h a partir das 20h desta quarta-feira. As rotas Frankfurt/Munique–São Paulo e Frankfurt–Rio podem sofrer cancelamentos ou atrasos, afetando passageiros brasileiros e cadeias de suprimento. Empresas devem acionar planos de contingência e monitorar conexões alternativas.

A surprise three-hour FAA airspace closure over El Paso on 11 Feb 2026 was triggered by an uncoordinated Pentagon laser test aimed at cartel drones. Fourteen flights were canceled, cargo was rerouted and lawmakers are now demanding tighter Pentagon-FAA coordination. Mobility managers should expect similar pop-up restrictions at U.S. border airports and build routing contingencies.

Spain’s 27 January royal decree will allow roughly half a million undocumented migrants to obtain legal residence and work rights. The Catholic Church, a prime mover behind the citizens’ initiative, welcomed the measure as an economic and moral boon, while right-wing parties condemned it. Employers now have a pathway to formalise irregular staff and reduce compliance risk when the application window opens in April. The initiative underscores Spain’s unusually pro-immigration stance within Europe.

India has added nine more countries to its electronic Tourist Visa roster, bringing coverage to 166 nationalities. The upgrade supports the government’s 15-million-visitor target for 2026 and provides corporates with a faster, fully digital pathway for 90-day business visits. Companies should refresh compliance guidance as e-visa applications are now screened against enhanced AI-based fraud and security databases.

• 11 February industry warning says first-time biometric enrolment under the EU’s new Entry/Exit System is already causing two- to three-hour lines in Prague and could stretch to four hours this summer. • Airlines and airports want the European Commission to let countries pause or phase the rollout; Prague Airport is racing to add more self-service kiosks and staff. • Business travellers to Czechia should build extra time into itineraries and keep the same passport to avoid repeat enrolment.

France’s main airports could see queues of four hours this summer unless the EU grants flexibility on the new biometric Entry/Exit System. Airline and airport associations say chronic staffing gaps and software glitches are already causing two-hour waits, even though only a minority of passengers are currently processed. They urge Brussels to allow temporary suspension of the rules and to accelerate pre-enrolment tools. Business travellers and mobility teams should factor longer connection times and possible rerouting into their summer plans.

MoHRE has slashed work-permit processing times from 10 minutes to under a minute and removed most paperwork by deploying AI tools in phase 2 of the Zero Government Bureaucracy programme. The change gives employers instantaneous quota approvals and smoother onboarding, reinforcing the UAE’s pitch to multinationals and skilled expatriates.