Iata Mounts Legal Challenge

Separately, a spokesman for the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which has 253 member carriers, criticised another British decision to double airport taxes for departing passengers.

IATA said it had had no alternative but to mount a legal challenge through the High Court in London against more stringent noise regulations decreed in August by Britain's department of transport.

This is a rare and reluctant step for IATA, the Geneva-based body said in a statement. Airlines worldwide would be affected by the new rules, to apply at London's three airports