Aircraft Surface Treatment Market Size, Share, Trend, Forecast, Competitive Analysis & Growth Opportunity: 2021-2026

Market Insights

Aircraft components are exposed to harsh environments that may critically damage the surface of the components. Surface treatment plays a pivotal role in surviving these parts from such harsh environments. The purpose of surface treatment is not only to protect aircraft parts from such a challenging environment, but also protect them against oxidation, corrosion, wear, erosion, and fouling. In addition to these, surface treatment reduces energy, reduces product consumption, and reduce chemical waste at the time of coatings. In an aircraft, different types of surface treatments are applied on different substrates. For example, conversion coatings performed using chromate or phosphate materials, are majorly used on the fuselage to prevent the formation of an oxide layer on the surface.

The Aircraft industry roughly holds less than a 15% share of the total surface treatment market. The aircraft surface treatment market flourished at an impressive rate from the past decade till 2018 and got slightly dwindled in 2019 mainly due to B737 Max grounding after two fatal accidents of the aircraft. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic further deepened the wounds of the industry. As a result of that, the market recorded its biggest-ever plunge of over 20%, shrunk the global market size close to US$ 470 million figure in 2020. Despite such a graver situation faced by the industry, strong industry fundamentals, such as a huge pile of order backlogs and expected revive in air traffic and recovery of aircraft production (especially for short-haul aircraft), are estimated to rejuvenate the demand in the years to come.

Additional noticeable trends that are substantiating the demand are an increasing M&A and rebranding activities at the airlines level, greater need for chemically treated surfaces with excellent durability and longer maintenance cycle, stringent government emission regulations, such as REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction of Chemicals) and Euro Zone Crisis 2012, and rising demand for eco-friendly surface treatment chemicals. Also, lucrative long-term growth of the market is compelling industry trendsetters to increasingly perform strategic alliances with an aim to remain at the driving seat of the market.

Segment Analysis

Aircraft Surface Treatment Market Share by Aircraft Type

To assist the industry stakeholders in building their profitable strategies efficaciously, the report segments the market in six ways in which aircraft type segmentation (Narrow-Body Aircraft, Wide-Body Aircraft, Regional Aircraft, General Aviation, Military Aircraft, and Helicopter) is exceptionally crucial. Among different aircraft types, narrow-body aircraft is forecasted to maintain its dominance in the market over the next five years, propelled by an expected recovery in the production rate of major aircraft, faster rebound of short-haul aircraft, expected entry of upcoming aircraft, such as COMAC C919; rising aircraft fleet; and higher M&A and re-branding activities in the airline industry.

Aircraft Surface Treatment Market Share by Chemical Type

Analogously to the aircraft types, the report also provides a deep-dive analysis of the different chemicals used for surface treatment. A wide array of surface treatment chemicals including cleaners, deoxidizers and desumutters, conversion coatings, and paint strippers are used for surface treatment out of which cleaners hold the lion’s share and are also likely to grow at the above industry average growth rate by 2026. Cleaners are widely adopted by airframe manufacturers, tier players, as well as airlines in order to prepare the surface for pre-treatment as well as post-treatment.

Aircraft Surface Treatment Market Share by Substrate Type

The relation of surface treatment type with the type of substrates is imperative for the market participants to expedite their growth process. Currently, a wide array of metals including aluminum, steel, nickel, and titanium are used in different aircraft applications based on the performance requirements. Aluminum is by far the most dominant material used in all legacy aircraft with fuselage and wings, the two largest applications, made with aluminum only. However, this trend is precipitously shifting with composite materials and titanium seem the winners in the latest aircraft construction, because of their excellent track record and mechanical properties. Changing dynamics in materials is imprinting a huge impact on the demand for surface treatments as these treatments are preferably performed in metals. In the aircraft surface treatment market, titanium will remain the fast-growing material type in the coming five years, propelled by its exponential use in the newer variants of engines such as LEAP (powering B737 Max, A320neo, and C919) and GE9x (powering B777x).

Regional Insights

In terms of region, North America is estimated to maintain its unassailable lead in the global market with the USA being the engine’s propeller. The USA is the manufacturing powerhouse of the aerospace industry, creating a humongous demand for surface treatment chemicals in the country. Canada and Mexico are catching the attention of global companies, driven by their advantages. Airbus’ acquisition of Bombardier’s C-Series invigorated the entire supply chain of the Canadian market, whereas attractive government policies, high proximity to the USA, and low-labor cost are attracting tier players to open their plants in Mexico. However, the maximum long-term growth opportunities continue to lie in Asia-Pacific, particularly in China, Japan, India, and Singapore.