The aircraft manufacturing industry has been witnessing constant pressure from the commercial aviation sector to deliver required volumes of aircraft fleet across models. The growth in demand for aircraft fleet among the commercial airlines is due to the noteworthy surge in the number of low-cost carriers (LCCs) and fleet expansion strategies adopted by the full-service carriers (FSCs). Owing to the rise in number of LCCs across geographies, the aircraft manufacturers—such as Airbus and Boeing—are experiencing rise in order volumes and are adding substantial numbers of the fleet. For instance, Boeing delivered around 216 units of commercial aircraft in the first half (H1) of 2022 compared to 156 aircraft in H1 2021. Similarly, Airbus delivered around 295 aircraft in H1 2022 compared to 297 in H1 2021. Hence, the surge in demand for commercial aircraft production is one of the major factors propelling the adoption of aircraft antennas for line fit segment.
With the growing adoption of unmanned aerial vehicles in across the Commercial end use segment is expected to account for a larger share in 2021, This is owing to rise in aircraft deliveries across commercial airlines and large backlogs of two major aircraft giants i.e Airbus and Boeing which is expected to retain the demand for aircraft antennas during the forecast period. The rise in aircraft deliveries is owing to the constantly rising passenger traffic across different regions that is pushing the aircraft carriers to increase their existing aircraft fleet. Moreover, the vendors such as Honeywell International Inc., Collins Aerospace, L3Harris Technologies Corporation, and Chelton are some of the major vendors that are catering to growing demand for aircraft antenna systems across the commercial aerospace sector. Also the vendors are focusing on the development of advanced aircraft antenna products that can be installed across multiple platforms. For instance, Honeywell International Inc’s AMT-700 high gain antenna product provides multiple compatibility option and it is compatible with several aircraft models such as Bombardier Challenger 300/600, Dassault Falcon 2000 Classic/2000 EX/50EX/7X/8X/900C/900A/B, Gulfstream G280/G450/G550/GIV Family/V.
Within the report, the market is segmented into frequency, platform, application, fit type, aircraft type, and geography. By frequency, the market is segmented into VHF/UHF band, Ku/Ka/K band, X band, and others. Based on platform, the market is segmented into aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles. By application, the market is segmented into communication and navigation. Based on fit type, the market is bifurcated into line fit and retrofit. By aircraft type, the market is segmented into commercial aircraft, military aircraft, and general aviation. Geographically, the market is sub-segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, South America, and Middle East & Africa.
The growing deployment of unmanned systems by different armed forces has become major concern among the defense sector for the adoption of detection and tracking technologies across their respective territorial areas. For this, several countries are procuring UAVs in large numbers that is again propelling the growth of UAV antenna systems across worldwide. The demand for long range military UAVs has been growing since past few years owing to which the vendors have been also focusing on developing such solutions that provide long range mission capabilities to cater to the market demand to remain competitive in the market. Hence, the growing deployment of UAVs across military applications is likely to generate huge opportunities for market vendors during the forecast period.
The rising procurement of military aircraft is one of the major factors pushing the aircraft antenna manufacturers to develop customer focused solutions. The advancements in the next generation military aircraft models is encouraging the aircraft antenna manufacturers to develop solutions based on the military needs and aircraft specification requirements which is further leading to innovation in aircraft antenna technologies. For instance, in September 2021, the Indian Ministry of Defense awarded a contract worth US$ 2.5 billion to Airbus for supplying 56 Airbus C-295 aircraft. Under this contract, Airbus will deliver 16 aircraft in fly away condition from its final assembly in Spain, whereas the remaining 40 aircraft will be manufactured in India.
Moreover, the rising military aircraft deliveries for different military applications is one of the major factors pushing the aircraft antenna manufacturers to produce innovative products based on specific military sector requirements. As the military aircraft systems require longer range capabilities along with strong signal connectivity, the vendors across military aircraft antenna market are majorly focusing on the development of such antenna systems by collaboratively working with different armed forces. For instance, in 2017, the US Navy awarded a contract to BAE Systems Plc for five years to develop and supply 53 aircraft antennas per year that can cut through enemy GPS jamming. Also, the vendors are working on the development of high-power aircraft antennas to cater to the growing deployment of radar and other tactical systems in a military aircraft. Such developments are catalyzing the aircraft antenna market growth.
The aircraft antenna market has undergone several significant developments, and a few of these have been mentioned below:
The aircraft antenna market is driven by several players by implementing strategic activities such as investments, new launches, mergers & acquisitions, and partnerships. Azimut, Boeing, Chelton, Cobham Limited, Collins Aerospace, Honeywell International Inc., L3Harris Technologies Corporation, Rami Antennas, Sarasota Avionics, and Sensor Systems Inc. are among the prominent players operating in the market.
In this report, the market has been segmented on the basis of: