British Airways started legal action Wednesday in an attempt to prevent a strike by cabin crews that could threaten 1 million passengers' holiday travel plans.

The airline is seeking a court order to block the 12-day walkout but also holding emergency talks with union leaders.

BA is challenging the Unite union's ballot of its 12,500 cabin crew members, arguing that some workers who had taken voluntary redundancy took part in the voting even though they would have left the airline by the time the strike took place.

Opening the hearing at London's High Court, the airline's legal counsel Bruce Carr told Mrs. Justice Cox the balloting process contained "serious and substantial irregularities."

Carr called the union's actions "wilfully disproportionate and clearly unlawful" in choosing 12 days to strike over Christmas.

In his opening statement he referred several times to the serious disruption that will be felt by BA's passengers and some "ordinary people will find it very difficult to understand."

Meanwhile the Unite union said it had accepted an offer from BA to meet for talks on Wednesday afternoon. "We are pleased the company has seen sense and will meet with us to seek an opportunity to get the talks back on track," union spokeswoman Pauline Doyle told CNN.

Those talks do not affect British Airways' attempt to seek an injunction to stop the strike

More than 12,500 BA employees voted in November to walk out because of planned changes to cabin crew conditions. Deputy General Secretary Len McCluskey announced the result of the ballot Monday, showing more than 92 percent of BA cabin crew approved of a strike.

The strike vote came after the airline introduced cost-cutting measures including a two-year pay freeze and reducing the numbers of cabin crew members on long-haul flights.

BA says the changes, introduced in the wake of a record pre-tax loss of more than $485 million for the six months from April to September, will save the airline $665 million.

Meanwhile, Eurostar train drivers based in the UK announced Wednesday they will strike Friday and Saturday, and again December 26 and 27.

Eurostar, however, said service would not be affected, as drivers from France and Belgium would be used. The train line provides service between London and both Paris, France, and Brussels, Belgium.

Separately, the International Air Transport Association, an umbrella group for the air travel industry, predicted Tuesday that the world's airlines will lose $5.6 billion in 2010. That's more than the group's previous prediction of a $3.8 billion loss in 2010, but still only half as much as it expects the industry to lose this year.

"The world's airlines will lose $11 billion in 2009," said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA's Director General and CEO, in a statement. The year coming to an end was "an Annus Horribilis that brings to a close the 10 challenging years of an aviation Decennis Horribilis. Between 2000 and 2009, airlines lost $49.1 billion, which is an average of $5 billion per year,"

Unite's assistant general secretary, Len McCluskey, warned the strike would inflict "catastrophic damage" to the airline if it went ahead. He said union members had been pushed into a corner by BA Chief Executive Willie Walsh.

Around 1 million passengers could potentially be affected by the strike, finding themselves unable to take their flights or stranded at their destinations, unable to return home, said travel expert Simon Calder of The Independent newspaper.

Tell us about your BA travel troubles

British Airways has said passengers holding tickets for the strike period may rebook for any date in the next 12 months with no penalty, but ticketholders still hoping to fly over the holidays are faced with a dilemma.

The airline has said it will only refund a passenger's ticket if their flight is canceled, and so far BA has not canceled any flights because of the strike.

What's the advice for travellers affected by the strike?

Passengers not willing to wait to see whether their flight will be canceled can try to rebook on another airline, but BA has said it will not reimburse them for the cost of that ticket if their original flight goes ahead as planned.

There is little availability on other airlines, and any tickets are likely to be expensive, Calder said.

McCluskey said angry passengers should blame the airline, which had forced union members into a corner with its plans.

Walsh, however, called the strike "completely unjustified."

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