UK engineering firm Rolls-Royce says it has won orders to make $2bn(£1.2bn) of aircraft engines to power Airbus planes for Air China and Ethiopian Airlines.

The orders were announced on the first day of the Dubai Airshow on Sunday.

The $1.5bn Air China order involves providing Trent 700 engines to power 20 A330 aircraft that will be delivered from 2011.

And the $480m Ethiopian order covers Trent XWB engines for 12 A350-900 XWB planes that will begin service in 2017.

It came after Ethiopian Airlines announced a $3bn aircraft order with Airbus.

The airline made an initial draft request for the dozen extra-wide bodied A350-900s in July and confirmed the deal at the air show, the biggest in the Middle East.

Best-selling engines

Airlines have been hit hard during the recession, so the order for engines is welcome news for Rolls-Royce, which has factories in Derby and Bristol making engines, and one in Sunderland making aero-engine components.

In addition, the Rolls-Royce Inchinnan factory, which opened in October 2004 close to Glasgow Airport, also manufactures aeroplane engine components.

The Ethiopian order means Rolls-Royce has sold more than 1,000 of its best-selling XWB engines.

The firm has said the XWB is the most fuel efficient and environmentally sensitive large engine design on the market, with fuel efficiency ratings 28% higher than pre-Trent generation engines.

In the summer the firm said it was on track to meet its full-year financial targets, but warned that delays on the Airbus A380 and Boeing 787 wide-body programmes had added an element of uncertainty.

However, the delays have created more demand for existing wide-body products, where it has a strong position.