Aircraft Maintenance Technology - 14

COVER STORY

Figure 3.

general aviation aircraft were delivered and 819 rotorcraft were delivered. (*Leonardo Helicopters fourth
quarter data is not available at the time of publication.)
Over half of the deliveries were in North America and
the remaining around the world. The world fleet size of
general and business aviation aircraft and rotorcraft
is said to be more than 446,000 with 211,000 based in
the United States, 136,000 based in Europe and the
remaining elsewhere around the world.
Honeywell Aerospace produces a 10-year forecast
released timely with the annual National Business
Aviation Association's (NBAA) Business Aviation
Convention and Exposition. The October 2019 report
stated the global demand to be 7,600 new business jet
deliveries over the next 10 years.
Figure 2.

Honeywell projected global demand of 7,6OO
business jets over the next five years.
ASIA-PACIFIC

LATIN AMERICA

Honeywell projected global demand of 4,1OO
rotorcraft over the next five years.
NORTH
AMERICA

LATIN AMERICA

18%

EUROPE
ASIA-PACIFIC

AFRICA AND THE
1O% 7% 4% MIDDLE EAST

19%

EUROPE

6O%
NORTH AMERICA

Honeywell Aerospace recently released its 22nd
annual Turbine-Powered Civil Helicopter Purchase
Outlook, where they forecast 4,100 new civilian-use
helicopters will be delivered from 2020 to 2024. Note:
The Honeywell report states the 2020 outlook presents
a snapshot of the helicopter business at a given point
in time and reflects the current business and political
environment. This year's data comes from a survey
of more than 1,000 chief pilots and flight department
managers. The results are survey respondents who
said they would either replace or expand their fleet
with a new helicopter over the next five years.

MARCH 2020

12%

29%

AFRICA AND
THE MIDDLE
EAST

7%
5%

29%

OTHER, NOT
REPORTED

Global MRO Activity
By now, you may be asking yourself what this all has
to do with maintenance. The answer is simple; more
aircraft require more maintenance, regardless of type
and where they are in the world.
North America and Western Europe have been
known for having mature aviation systems beginning
a century ago. And in-turn, these two regions have
mature and robust MRO activity. However, based on
air travel demands over the past few decades, some of
the largest MRO facilities have developed outside of
these two regions. Based on global aircraft demand,
you can predict additional expansion of MRO activity
in other parts of the world.
For current information on MRO activity, I turned
to the Aeronautical Repair Station Association (ARSA).
Editor's note: The following MRO information for
this article came from Oliver Wyman's Global Fleet
& MRO Market Forecast 2019-2029 prepared for and
with the permission of ARSA. For more information
on the report, its findings and the preparation of the
2020-2030 report, contact ARSA.
The following are key points from the above mentioned forecast I found applicable to this discussion.
* With the expansion of business in the commercial
aviation industry, the MRO market that supports
it is also expected to grow.

AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY

Aircraft Maintenance Technology

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