Newly Formed airline takes off in Britain

In the face of a falling economy, one British company is gaining altitude, Monitor correspondent Rushworth M. Kidder reports. The nation's newest airline, Air UK, took off Wednesday -- a merger of four smaller lines that is now the third-largest scheduled British carrier.

Formed of British Island Airways, Air Anglia, BIA/Air West, and Air Wales, the new line serves 23 airports, which will eventually include Brussels and Amsterdam. It hopes to carry more than 1.7 million passengers and earn more than L55 million ($121 million) its first year.