It appears increasingly likely that the majority of the 200 workers of loss-making Buzz airline offered contracts by new owner Ryanair had accepted the deal ahead of last night's deadline. An official announcement on the take-up rate of the offer is expected on Monday.

Ryanair sources were upbeat that most of the 200 had signed up to a swingeing rationalisation plan under which the Buzz brand will be retired and the remaining 400 staff made redundant.

Buzz, which is losing €1 million a week, faced closure if workers refused new contracts. Staff at the unionised company were initially hostile to Ryanair's offer but the threat of a complete shutdown seems to have sapped their opposition.

Ryanair declined to comment on the take-up rate. "The integration process is proceeding well," said a spokeswoman.

The airline has offered jobs to three-quarters of Buzz pilots and around one-fifth of cabin crew.

Unions have criticised Ryanair's deadline as "illegal". GMB, which represents cabin crew and some other staff, has lodged a legal action, saying workers were arbitrarily selected for redundancy and contracts were being signed under duress.

Ryanair rejected the claims, insisting jobs were offered on a "last-in, first-out" basis. It claims Buzz staff are less than one-third as productive as those at Ryanair and says workers who sign up to the rationalisation plan will receive wage increases to reflect added workload.

Ryanair bought Buzz from Dutch flag-carrier KLM for €23.9 million last month. Analysts were surprised by the move, given that Buzz had posted €60 million losses over the past two years.

However, Ryanair is adamant the company can be turned around, predicting it would carry four million passengers this year and would begin turning a profit by March 2004. The airline will be grounded for April, during which Buzz will be integrated into the Ryanair brand.