The union for British Airways cabin crew is in London's High Court to challenge a ruling that blocked a new wave of walkouts by the airline's staff as peace talks between BA and the union continue.

We are at the court now seeking leave to appeal, a Unite spokeswoman said. If we secure that, then we will move to appeal as soon as the court grants time -- this may be today (Tuesday) but it may not be. It's a waiting game at the moment.

BA on Monday won a legal bid to block a threatened five-day strike by cabin crew members. The first of four five-day walkouts had been due to begin at midnight, but will now not go ahead as planned.

The airline's lawyers argued that Unite had broken the law on a technicality over the way it had conducted the strike ballot.

A BA spokeswoman said it still hoped for an early and peaceful end to the dispute and that talks (with Unite) would continue throughout the week.

Shares in BA were 2.2 percent up by 0910 GMT.

BGC Partners analyst Howard Wheeldon said there was a feeling of relief in the market that BA had managed to stop the latest strike and that the saga was now approaching the end-game stages.

The dispute with cabin crew over pay and conditions has already resulted in seven days of strikes in March, which cost the airline 45 million pounds.

Earlier this week Unite said it had reached agreement in principle with BA over its plans to save 62.5 million pounds ($90.12 million) a year to counter falling demand, volatile fuel prices and greater competition.

However, Unite said the restoration of staff travel perks had not been agreed and this row was holding up settlement of the wider dispute.

($1=.6935 Pound)

(Reporting by Rhys Jones; Editing by Matt Scuffham)