Aircraft Flight Recorder Market - Growth, Trends, Covid-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2023 - 2028)

Aircraft Flight Recorder Market - Growth, Trends, Covid-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2023 - 2028)

The aircraft flight recorder market is expected to register a CAGR of 4.61% during the forecast period.

The aircraft flight recorder market primarily depends on the demand for new aircraft. The COVID-19 pandemic severely affected the commercial aviation industry. The decreased demand from airlines resulted in reduced orders for new aircraft in the past years. Disruptions in supply chains witnessed in the second and third quarters of 2020 around the world have posed challenges to players in the market. The aviation industry is recovering, and procurement of new aircraft is being done on a large scale across regions. This is likely to generate demand for the entire aircraft supply chain, including the aircraft flight recorder.

The amendments in regulations for installing new flight recorders (underwater locating devices and aircraft localization) are being implemented by regulatory bodies like EASA and ICAO. As a result, several airlines are complying with new regulations. This is expected to propel investments by companies in new products aligning with these regulations and demand for new recorders from aircraft OEMs and operators.

In 2021, the civil and commercial aviation segment contributed to the highest revenue share of the aircraft flight recorder market. The growth in the commercial aviation sector is expected to result in the growth of the aircraft flight recorder market during the forecast period.

An increasing number of aircraft deliveries, a rise in air traffic passengers, and the introduction of new technologies in the commercial aviation sector are critical factors that have fueled the market’s growth in recent times. Airbus and Boeing are expected to deliver 1,000 more aircraft in 2023 compared to 2022. Over the first three quarters of 2022, Boeing and Airbus have delivered around 766 commercial aircraft. Airbus delivered 436 aircraft to customers, a minor increase to the same point in 2021 when the European OEM delivered 421 aircraft. Boeing had 330 aircraft, an increase of nearly two-thirds compared to deliveries in September 2021.

In addition, according to the 20-year forecast published by Airbus for the commercial aerospace market, in numerical terms, the global commercial aviation industry will require 39,500 new aircraft deliveries between 2022 and 2041. Recent estimates presented by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) conclude that the demand for air transport will increase by an average of 4.3% per annum within the next twenty years. Moreover, the global commercial aviation industry is planning to support a growing number of passengers and cargo by 2036. This is ecpected to increase the demand for aircraft, thereby leading to growth in the commercial aviation sector, which is anticipated to have a subsequent demand for aircraft flight recorders during the forecast period.

The North American region currently has the highest aircraft flight recorder market share. The Asia-Pacific region is expected to grow and register the highest CAGR during the forecast period. There has been significant growth regarding commercial and military aircraft in China. According to a recent analysis by original equipment manufacturer Boeing, China will require 8,485 new aircraft by 2041 to cater to the growing passenger traffic in the long run. According to the latest commercial outlook published by Boeing, the majority of new aircraft deliveries, or 42% of new aircraft deliveries, will be based on the airlines in the Asia-Pacific region, with China accounting for half of all the aircraft deliveries by 2041. Major countries in the region, like China, India, and Japan, received major aircraft deliveries in 2021. A total of 142 commercial aircraft were delivered to China by the OEM Airbus in 2021. In 2022, Japanese airline ANA Holdings Inc. announced that they had finalized an order for 20 Boeing 737 Max jets, including the option of narrow body type aircraft.

There has been a significant increase in the production of aircraft flight recorder devices in the Chinese aviation industry following the air crash incident in China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in which a China Eastern Boeing 737 with 132 people onboard, crashed due to pilot error as pointed out by the data recovered from the aircraft flight recorders. The Japanese government has now increased its focus on aviation safety following major crashes in Japan in recent years. Increasing focus on installing advanced aircraft flight recorders that are more durable and able to withstand extreme temperature fluctuations is the main focus of aviation authorities in Japan. This will likely lead to the market for aircraft flight recorders witnessing growth in the near future.

The aircraft flight recorders market is fragmented. The prominent players in the market are Honeywell, L3 Technologies Inc., General Electric Company, Curtiss-Wright Corp., and Elbit Systems Ltd. Companies with superior technical capabilities are expected to contribute significantly toward technological advancements in aircraft flight recorders. Innovations in the market are increasing, with many players investing significant amounts into R&D to manufacture technologically advanced aircraft flight recorders that can stream real-time data to encapsulate a more substantial chunk of the market. In May 2021, the 25-hour Flight Data Recorder (FDR) developed by Honeywell and the Defense Solutions division of Curtiss-Wright received Technical Standard Order (TSO) certification from European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

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