A NORTH-East factory will be boosted by a £90m order to provide engines for Spanish planes, it was revealed yesterday.

Rolls Royce has announced that it has won the order for three planes flown by the national airline Iberia.

It will supply Trent 500 engines to power the airbus A340-600 airliners.

Iberia will take delivery of the aircraft in the middle of next year and operate them from Madrid to central and south American destinations.

Martin Nield, head of communications for operations and technology with Rolls Royce, said the order would be partly completed at the firm's Sunderland factory, which employs about 415 staff.

He said: "The Sunderland factory will be benefiting from this order, as it makes discs which go into most Rolls Royce aero engines, including the Trent 500.

"The important parts of these engines will be made in Sunderland."

The news follows last October's announcement by the firm that as a result of a downturn in the aerospace industry post-September 11, it would have to shed 5,000 jobs.

Of these, 3,800 were lost in the UK, including 45 in Sunderland, although all were voluntary redundancies.

Mr Nield said news of the order was particularly welcome following the slump, although he said it was unlikely to create new jobs.