General Aviation Engines Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The general aviation engines market is expected to exhibit a CAGR of more than 3% during the forecast period (2020 - 2025).

Key Highlights

• The general aviation market experienced steady growth in 2019 compared to 2018. The reason for this growth was the increase in deliveries of business jets and piston-engine aircraft. The global rotorcraft fleet also experienced a growth of over 0.5% in 2019. The aforementioned factors are propelling the growth of general aviation engines market.
• The necessity to reduce aviation emission is fueling the development of fuel-efficient and lightweight engines. One such technology is hybrid engines for aircraft that will witness a growth during the forecast period. The prominent players such as Safran and Rolls Royce have already unveiled their hybrid engine prototypes and are significantly investing on this technology. Such advancements will support the growth of the market during the forecast period.
• Due to stringent safety protocols, authorities such as DGCA of India has made it mandatory for aircraft operators to replace the older engines of fleet with new engines. Such standards set by regulatory bodies will further propel the general aviation engines market in the coming years.

Key Market Trends

Fixed-wing Aircraft Engines to Exhibit the Highest Growth Rate During the Forecast Period

The increase in leisure and business air travel, increase in disposable income of people, and development of aviation infrastructure to accommodate and handle more general aviation aircraft are propelling the market growth for general aviation aircraft and engines globally. The majority of general aviation aircraft are powered by turbofan engines. Turbofans are expected to exhibit the highest growth as compared to other aircraft engines, owing to the global investments made to increase the size of the existing general aviation fleet of fast, powerful, and fuel-efficient aircraft. The global shipment of piston-engine aircraft also recorded an increase of 15.9% with a total of 1509 units shipped in 2019 compared to 1302 units in 2018. Some of the top-selling general aviation aircraft models such as Cirrus Aircraft SR 22T, Cirrus SF 50, Diamond Aircraft DA 40, Bombardier business jets, Daher Kodiak 100, etc. recorded a growth in sales in 2019. Development and advancements in design and technology such as enhancement of high bypass turbofan design are making engines fuel-efficient and more powerful thus propelling the market growth for the fixed-wing aircraft engines.

Asia-Pacific Region to Exhibit The Highest Growth Rate During the Forecast Period

The Asia-Pacific region is anticipated to register the highest growth during the forecast period. This is primarily due to the significant growth showcased by China, India, and Japan in terms of new aircraft orders and deliveries in the past five years. Currently, China has over 2,600 general aviation aircraft and this number is expected to increase in the coming years due to the growing demand from the short-haul transportation, tourism, forestry, and emergency medical service sectors. Of the total active fleet, about 60% are fixed-wing aircraft, while the remaining are rotorcraft. The top four business jet models in China are Gulfstream G450, G550, Dassault Falcon 7X, and Bombardier’s Challenger 850. In April 2019, Cessna-AVIC Aircraft (Zhuhai) Co. Ltd, a joint venture of Textron Aviation in China, signed agreements with the Flight Inspection Center of CAAC for eight new Cessna Citation XLS+ business jets, with deliveries expected to be completed by 2021. On that note, the Cessna Citation XLS+ is powered by Pratt & Whitney Canada’s PW545C turbofan engine. Likewise, Japan also experienced significant growth in its total fleet in 2019 compared to 2018. The development of airports in remote areas and smaller cities have propelled the market growth for turboprop and piston engines aircraft in the region. Club One Air is the largest business jet charter operator in India and eight of its 10 jets are used solely for charter use. The company recently announced its plans to double the fleet size within the next two years. Such developments in general aviation in Asia-Pacific region are anticipated to generate significant demand for aircraft engines which will drive the market growth in the near future.

Competitive Landscape

The general aviation engines market is moderately consolidated with major players such as Rolls Royce Holding PLC, Safran SA, GE, Pratt and Whitney (Raytheon Technologies Corporation) accounting for a major share in the market. The market players generate revenues mainly through winning contracts from aircraft manufacturers. Launch of new general aviation aircraft models will provide opportunities for the engine manufacturers to enhance their market share globally. In recent times, when aviation emission norms have become stringent, aircraft manufacturing companies are looking for low emission and highly fuel-efficient engines and this has lead to heavy investment in research, design, and development by aviation engine manufacturers to meet the needs of customers.

Additional Benefits:

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