Aircraft Curtains Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The aircraft curtains market is anticipated to record a CAGR of more than 6% during the forecast period.

Key Highlights

• Airlines are focusing on maintaining their brand images and capturing the lucrative business traveler segment. Cabin retrofitting activities are driven by the consumer demand for quick and reliable cabin connectivity, personalized entertainment systems, handsfree commands, micro-cabin environment, cabin air quality, medical care services, and self-cleaning and anti-bacterial materials. Moreover, the increased profits have allowed discretionary spending by airlines on features, such as larger overhead bins, comfortable seats, and custom thematic experiences. Airlines are considering the passenger’s perspective to determine methods by which they can offer the best possible in-flight experience.
• However, the market may be deterred by the stringent guidelines that need to be strictly adhered to, while designing the cabin and other associated components of an aircraft. Europe and the United States adhere to the FAR/CS 25.853 regulation, which states that the fire must not spread more than 43.2 centimeters from the source. This necessitates the use of flame-retardant fabrics on cabin layout, including seat covers, carpets, curtains, and wall coverings. Moreover, before issuing an airworthiness compliance certificate for the fabric, it is exposed to a rigorous flame test to determine its flame resistance. Furthermore, the curtain fabric is required to be wear-resistant, stain-resistant, non-toxic, and lightweight, in order to ensure minimal impact on the performance of the aircraft while ensuring maximum onboard safety.

Key Market Trends

Focus on Passenger Comfort Boosting the Aircraft Cabin Retrofitting Activities

Since the airlines are focusing on projecting their brand images among passengers, cabin retrofitting and restyling have emerged as viable solutions for airline operators to offer differentiated services and achieve the correct balance between cost and aesthetics. They fit curtains to separate travel classes in an aircraft cabin. Hence, operators are increasingly retrofitting their fleets as cost-effective solutions over procuring new aircraft. The retrofitting activities of old aircraft cabins range from individual seats to entire cabins.

American Airlines is currently engaged in a modernization plan to standardize its fleet. It includes stripping out the main cabin economy seats and replacing them with premium economy seats that are wider and offer more legroom. As these seats command higher fares than the main economy seats, the airline can offer customers superior services. Moreover, the need to differentiate between the service levels offered within different classes by airline operators adds to the level of personalization in aircraft cabins. The trend is also observed among smaller LCCs, which are keenly investing in cabin retrofitting, in order to add more value to their customized offerings. In May 2018, Sun County Airlines, a small regional player in the United States, disclosed its plans to invest USD 20 million in retrofitting the cabins aboard its B737 fleet, by removing its first-class and adding new economy seats and streaming services. Such installations may require the redesigning of the entire cabin layout, thus, opening a range of retrofit opportunities for standardized, fleet-wide cabin interior modifications, such as the installation of curtains as part of the cabin layout. Such developments are expected to boost the aftermarket prospects of the aircraft curtains market during the forecast period.

Europe to Bolster the Market Prospects During the Forecast Period

Though Asia-Pacific is anticipated to witness the highest number of aircraft deliveries during the forecast period, Europe is expected to observe a major growth in the aircraft curtains market. As Western European economies have well-developed aviation markets, the region is witnessing a high penetration rate of advanced cabin layouts that offer distinctive features in different aspects of air travel, such as safety and comfort. The growth of the aircraft curtains market can also be attributed to the cabin retrofitting activities undertaken by airline operators for offering modern amenities and designs to travelers, helping the airlines be at par with competitors' latest-generation aircraft while incurring comparatively minimal costs. The European market is highly competitive, with current trends indicating a consolidation among independent MRO operators in the region. The increasing partnerships between airline cabin MROs and OEMs have enabled the latter to penetrate the cabin retrofitting industry in Europe, which indicates a decline in market opportunities for independent cabin retrofitting service providers. Airbus is focusing on developing in-house capabilities for cabin upgrades as part of its diversified vision to have a broader role in the complete lifecycle of the aircraft and not remain limited to production. Moreover, the inability or failure of certain suppliers in the aircraft interiors industry, to deliver their products as per the specified quality and deadline, has encouraged OEMs to enter the cabin modification business to ensure the proper functioning of the regional aviation ecosystem.

Several aviation-grade fabric vendors are present in the region, which supply fire-resistant lightweight fabrics for aircraft upholstery and curtains. AERTEC supplies cabin interior products to several airlines, including Air France. The curtains supplied are compliant with the ASTML C384 standards and have an absorption co-efficiency of 0.2. Moreover, the market is witnessing increased consolidation in the form of mergers and backward integration by prominent players. In March 2018, Airline Services Interiors, a unit of the Airline Services Group, was acquired by Lantal Textiles Ltd (Lantal) to systematically evolve the latter's identity as a comprehensive cabin solution provider. Such developments depict the trend of backward integration by the key players to consolidate their market positions through the diversification of their offerings and, thereby, drive the growth prospects of the aircraft curtains market during the forecast period.

Competitive Landscape

The prominent players in the market are Aircraft Cabin Modification GmbH, Belgraver BV, Botany Weaving, Lantal Textiles AG, Industrial Neotex SA, and Spectra Interior Products Inc., among others. Vendors are modifying their offerings and investing in the development of modern fabrics to enhance the level of safety of their offerings. The trend of backward integration also helps the vendors introduce low differentiated products at competitive pricing levels. Furthermore, long-term partnerships are favored in the aviation industry for the supply of cabin components, such as curtains. Hence, any lack of specified quality in the fabric of curtains may lead to the termination of a major contract, with the potential to exert a severe financial strain on the business of a market player.

Additional Benefits:

• The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
• 3 months of analyst support