Rising Demand for Lightweight Materials in Aerospace Structures to Increase Energy Efficiency Has Raised the Market Growth of the Aircraft Seat Material Market

Growing Demand for Aircraft Is Influencing the Market Growth. Aircraft seat Material market size is forecast to reach $150.1 million by 2026, after growing at a CAGR of 3.5% during 2021-2026.

The components used to create the seating arrangement for comfortable passenger accommodation on a flight are known as aircraft seating materials. Aircraft seat fabrics are more durable, lighter, and have a variety of other advantages. These alloys greatly reduce aircraft weight while offering superior temperature resistance, corrosion resistance, and other properties. Increasing the aerospace industry across various regions, owing to the increasing per-capita income coupled with the increasing population is a key factor influencing the market growth. According to Boeing, the global aerospace and defense market will be at US$ 8.7 trillion over the next decade, up from US$ 8.1 trillion in 2019. The growth in the aerospace industry is anticipated to drive the aircraft seat material market substantially during the forecast period (2021-2026).

Currently, the production of new wide body aircraft has raised the growth of the aircraft seat materials market. For instance, in 2019, Boeing produced its new wide body aircraft B777X with a cabin width of 5.94 m (216") and 10 economy class seats per row with a 17.2“ seat width. According to Boeing’s forecast in 2017, small wide-body aircraft, such as the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Airbus A330, was considered as the next most common category, accounting for 5,050 deliveries, or 12 percent of projected sales in the next few years. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the regional transport aircraft's 90-seater version will be planned to start in 2021 and will enter service in 2026. 

The COVID-19 outbreak has wreaked havoc on the aviation industry, posing significant economic challenges. Since the outbreak's inception, the civil aviation industry has been one of the worst-affected sectors worldwide. The lockdown has occurred as a result of an increase in COVID-19 cases, which has temporarily halted various operations in the aviation sector such as air travel, manufacturing, raw material supply aircraft deliveries, among others. According to International Air Transport Association (IATA), worldwide domestic flights have dropped by 70% and the loss of passenger revenue reached US$314 billion. As the pandemic lowered demand for new jets in 2020, suppliers slashed airliner production rates. For instance, Airbus reduced monthly production of A320s from 60 to 40, A330s from 4.5 to two, and A350s from nine to six. Boeing has decreased its monthly capacity from 14 to 6 - 787s and 5 to 2 - 777s, and production of the 737 Max has already been halted, with a target pace of 31 per month by early 2022. Due to decreased air traffic, new aircraft procurement contracts are being canceled, causing aircraft manufacturers to reduce production, which is impacting the growth of the aircraft seat materials industry.

Europe holds a major share of the aircraft seat material market owing to the increasing demand for aircraft in the region. According to a new forecast by Global Jet Capital, deliveries of mid-to-heavy business jets in Europe will exceed 959 aircraft between 2017 and 2025. In March 2021, the UK government announced to invest £90 million (US$125 million) in five innovative aerospace projects, the projects will revolutionize aerospace manufacturing in the country. The French government has encouraged new aircraft development in the region to give a boost to the aerospace industry that will also drive Interiors market growth. For instance, in June 2020, France has announced a 15-billion-euro (US$17 billion) funding package for its aerospace industry, to speed up research on a green plane. The demand for new aircraft orders due to the European Union emission norms and increase in retrofit programs are the major drivers in this region. Furthermore, Passenger numbers in the United Kingdom have been that for seven years, and it is predicted that by 2050, passenger traffic in the United Kingdom will have increased from 284 million to 435 million. The rise in passenger traffic will upsurge the demand for new aircraft which will have a positive impact on the aircraft seat demand, which will boost the Aircraft Seat Material Market demand in the European region during the forecast period.

The aircraft interior market is driven by airline industry orders and its environment. The airline industry has witnessed a positive growth, several orders coming from the emerging market such as Middle East, India, China, and Africa, due to increase in air travel and increasing GDP growth in these regions, which has triggered the airline operators to increase and new programs like from B78, Airbus A350, A320 Neo and COMAC 919. This positive growth has driven the correlative aircraft interior market. In January 2020, Airbus announced that it would increase its industrial footprint in the United States by raising the production rate of A320 family aircraft at its Airbus U.S. manufacturing facility as part of its strategy to manufacture 63 A320 Family aircraft per month by 2021. According to Boeing, China is estimated to require around 6,810 new commercial aircraft, valued at US$1 trillion, over the next two decades. Also, over the next five years, the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) plans to invest $7 billion in MROs and aviation-related industries in Thailand. This would have an even greater impact on the development of the aircraft seat materials industry.

The retrofit market has seen higher demand for customization and up-gradation of aircraft. Airline operators are looking forward to more customer-orientated services being implanted on the airplane cabin which will improve the comfort requirements of the passengers. As the airline industry is now focusing on emerging countries like India, China, Africa countries, companies are planning to provide customized solutions based on regional-based customer’s preferences. Growing fuel prices have generated demand for lightweight composites materials and more energy-efficient lighting systems. European airlines are increasing the number of retrofit programs and fleet exchange programs to decrease fleet fuel intake. This will upshot the demand for new cabin interiors made from advanced and lightweight materials which will reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emission per passenger-kilometer ratios.

Owing to the increasing concern about passenger safety, more innovative seat designs are expected to be developed. The players in the aircraft seat market are concentrating on developing an airplane seat that can maintain its position and withstand high shock during an accident. For instance, Collins Aerospace created the 21G seat design to provide passengers with greater security. Aside from that, some key players are focusing on designing aircraft to mitigate the impact of COVID-19. For instance, Safran announced in June 2020 that it will create a new interspace seat portfolio. With the interface seat design structure, this product portfolio is expected to provide improved passenger safety and comfort while also assisting in the prevention of the spread of coronavirus.

The major companies in the aircraft seat material market include Haeco Americas (Swire Pacific Limited), Safran S.A., Jamco Aircraft Interiors Company, Recaro Aircraft Seating, Singapore Technologies Aerospace Ltd., Avio Interiors S.P.A., Thompson Aero Seating Ltd./AVIC (Aviation Industry Corporation of China), Zim Flugsitz GmbH, TSI Aviation Seats, SOISA Aerospace Inc., Collins Aerospace (Raytheon Technologies). The key focus of the companies has shifted towards product launch and expansion.

In March 2021, to meet demand in the single-aisle market, AVIC Cabin Systems (ACS) launched the “VantageSOLO seat” under Thompson Aero Seating. The product is the first completely flatbed built and planned exclusively for single-aisle aircraft anywhere in the world. In May 2019, Collins Aerospace Systems, a unit of United Technologies Corp., has introduced the EvolutionTM seat, a next-generation executive aircraft seat.

In March 2021, with the first Embraer installation, Recaro Aircraft Seating enters the regional jet market. For KLM Cityhopper, the regional arm of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, the BL3710 and SL3710 seats will be retrofitted on the Embraer E190 and line fitted in Brazil on the Embraer E195-E2. In December 2019, Recaro Aircraft Seating has opened a new production facility in Qingdao, China. The inauguration marks the end of the second phase of Recaro's space2grow program, a major global expansion project launched last year to support the company's continued expansion.