Ryanair has said that Buzz will continue to fly and that most of the remaining pilots will keep their jobs now that they have accepted new contracts from the Irish low-cost carrier.

Ryanair also announced another seat sale in a bid to keep its planes full in the event of war in Iraq. The airline's chief executive, Mr Michael O'Leary, said yesterday that air travel within Europe would only be affected if there were terrorist attacks in the region.

Yesterday the Transport and General Workers' Union (T&G), which represents cabin crew, attacked the job losses and the new contracts, while the British Airline Pilots Association said that no-one had given these contracts their blessing.

"The T&G will be seeking a further meeting with KLM to discuss the issues surrounding the redundancies. We will then decide what legal routes are appropriate to take," it said. The contracts are due to come into effect on April 1st.