Rolls-Royce has secured a deal with US planemaker Boeing that may be worth billions of pounds.

Boeing chose Rolls-Royce and US company General Electric to supply the engines for Boeing's 7E7 Dreamliner.

The engine will be called the Trent 1000.

The deal will pay dividends for the company's Sunderland plant, where 400 staff make disc components for Rolls-Royce engines.

John Rose, Rolls-Royce chief executive, said: "I welcome this highly significant decision. We expect this programme to provide good financial returns and to build on our successful engine portfolio, which has allowed us to develop a strong market position in the civil airlines sector."

Rolls-Royce's civil aerospace president, Mike Terrett, said: "This is a special day in the long and successful relationship between our companies. Now, once again, our focus is on bringing a new generation of Trent successfully to market."

Mike Bair, Boeing's 7E7 senior vice-president, said: "The Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engine selected for the 7E7 will set new standards of performance and enable the airplane to fly higher, faster, farther, cleaner and quieter than today's comparable airplanes."

The 7E7, which will carry 250 passengers, is expected to go into service in 2008.

* A £33m aircraft building operation in Belfast will create nearly 400 jobs.

Canadian-owned manufacturer Bombardier Aerospace announced the investment in programmes to develop two business jets.