Airbus Shares Global Services Forecast, Predicts 10% YOY Increase in 2025 Demand

In its latest Global Services Forecast (GSF), Airbus notes that it expects the total demand for services to experience a 10% year-on-year increase in 2025.

The forecast also shows this continuing to grow alongside expanded air traffic and eventually reaching an estimated value of $311 billion by 2044 (anticipating a CAGR of 3.6%).

Airbus shares that close to half of the global fleet of aircraft that has more than 100 seats consists of Airbus aircraft, and the service sector to keep aircraft flying efficiently shows a strong growth potential.

Global passenger traffic is set to reach five billion passengers in 2025, with airlines facing challenges like:

• Maintaining high fleet availability
• Ensuring fleet reliability
• Continuing operational excellence and efficiency

Airbus’s report shows how people and commerce drive air traffic growth and how manufacturers must now support customers with integral service partners throughout an aircraft’s service life.

As Airbus anticipates the global commercial fleet set to grow to more than 49,000 aircraft and the number of annual passengers to increase to 10 billion by 2044, both almost doubling in that time, the company highlights how aircraft services will become even more significant.

The Airbus GSF outlines five key segments in Services that it expects to drive this growth:

• Off-Wing Maintenance ($107 billion in 2025; $218 billion in 2044): The growing but aging global fleet results in more shop visits. Material supply accounts for 85% of the value of this category, reflecting the demand for parts support and repair capability.
• On-Wing Maintenance ($21 billion in 2025; $34 billion in 2044): Increasing need for routine maintenance creates the need for more services ranging from frequent light inspections to heavy checks.
• Modifications & Upgrades ($12 billion in 2025; $17 billion in 2044): This sector anticipates significant activity in complex cabin and systems upgrades to enhance passenger experience and extend the aircraft lifecycle.
• Digital & Connectivity ($9 billion in 2025, $26 billion in 2044): With aims to enable more connected, smarter operations, such as predictive maintenance and fuel-saving flight paths, this is the fastest-growing sector.
• Training ($10 billion in 2025, $17 billion in 2044): With more than 2.35 million new aviation professionals needed by 2044—including 633,000 new pilots, 705,000 new technicians and 1.010,000 new cabin crew—growing demand can only be met by advancing and upskilling staff.

“With the reclustering of the Airbus GSF, we consider a bigger part of the ecosystem in which our customers operate. Especially digital solutions are becoming real multipliers, enabling operators to scale up without compromising on reliability or cost,” highlights Cristina Aguilar Grieder, SVP Customer Services at Airbus.

She continues, “This can lead to unlocking the potential of more than $83 billion in annual operational savings for our customers, through an increasing number of digitally connected aircraft - from 11,000 today to over 40,000 by 2044.”

In addition, Airbus is exploring two further market segments that are driving customer demand:

• Maintenance Operations Support: This includes essential enablers such as engineering services, technical records, inventory management and fleet-wide planning for MROs and operators.
• Ground Operations: This field acts as a link between airside efficiency and aircraft turnaround performance where important technological developments are happening and new services will be made available.

While Airbus expects China, North America and Europe and the CIS to become the top three largest services markets by 2044 in terms of total demand, the strongest top three growth rates by CAGR are expected in South Asia, China and the Asia-Pacific region.