The Airbus 380 will be officially unveiled on Tuesday

It helps secure the jobs of 760 workers at GE Engine Services at Nantgarw near Caerphilly.

The superjumbo itself is due to be unveiled at a ceremony attended by Tony Blair in France on Tuesday.

It is the second major contract the firm has clinched and was won against "significant competition" worldwide.

Andrew Davies, Minister for Economic Development and Transport, described the contract, won with the help of a Regional Selective Assistance grant from the Welsh Assembly Government, as a "coup for Wales".

The wings for the A380 are already produced at Broughton in Flintshire and shipped to Toulouse in France for assembly.

Key industry

"This is another example of the growing strength of Wales' aerospace industry," said Mr Davies.

"Not only are all the wings for the Airbus A380 manufactured in Wales but the GP7200 engine that will power a large proportion of these aircraft will be maintained, repaired, tested and overhauled in Wales in a hi-tech specially adapted multi-million pound test cell."

There had been fears for the future of the GE factory following a general downturn in the industry in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

But last November the GE plant secured a major contract to maintain, repair, test and overhaul Ryanair's fleet of Boeing 737-800s.

Minister Andrew Davies said it was a 'major coup' for Wales

The company says the deal forms part of a programme over the next 25 years and will play a significant role in the development of the Nantgarw base.

Karl Fessenden, the plant's managing director, said the contracts would have a major impact on the business.

"Once again our depth of experience and skills have been recognised at an international level," he said.

"This contract demonstrates that MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) in Wales is growing in capabilities and is a real testament to the efforts our skilled workforce and the support we receive from the Welsh Assembly Government and the WDA( Welsh Development Agency)"

Mr Davies added: "Aerospace is a key industry sector in Wales providing more than 20,000 highly-skilled jobs of which approximately 10,000 are in the maintenance repair and overhaul segment which alone contributes some �1bn a year to the Welsh economy."

Tony Blair and other European leaders will be present at Toulouse on Tuesday when the eight-storey high Airbus A380 is finally revealed to the world after a decade of development.