Airbus Shares Forecast of $138.7 Billion Asia-Pacific Aviation Services Market by 2044

Airbus recently shared its most recent Global Services Forecast (GSF) for Asia-Pacific, including India and China.

The company predicts a 5.2% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for total services demand through 2044 and a potential market value of $138.7 billion.

As fleets continue to grow and air traffic keeps expanding, Airbus anticipates that the Asia-Pacific region could need 19,560 new passenger aircraft. This makes up around 46% of total global demand for the forecasted period of time.

The Asia-Pacific aviation sector is also anticipated to keep growing its air travel market at a rapid rate, with the rate of growth for passenger traffic at 4.4%.

The Airbus GSF for 2025-2044 names five key services segments that the company expects to facilitate this growth:

Off-Wing Maintenance

• Forecasted growth: $37.1 billion in 2026 to $100 billion in 2044

Growth in Asia-Pacific’s off-wing maintenance services likely stem from increased demand as fleets grow and age. There are challenges associated with this demand, such as supply chain constraints and labor shortages.

On-Wing Maintenance

• Forecasted growth: $6 billion in 2025 to $14 billion in 2044

Airbus attributes this projected growth largely to increasing investment in MRO infrastructure and new maintenance hangars in several markets, such as:

• India
• Indonesia
• Malaysia
• Phillippines

Modifications & Upgrades

• Forecasted growth: $3.8 billion in 2025 to $6.2 billion in 2044

With programs like cabin modernization and retrofits becoming more complex and popular, more next-generation products that require specialized maintenance are emerging. These include In-Flight Connectivity (IFC) and premium cabin products, like seating and design elements.

Digital & Connectivity

• Forecasted growth: $2.9 billion in 2025 to $11.2 billion in 2044

The use of data analytics and AI-powered solutions is increasing in popularity with MROs and airlines, with the goal of increasing operational efficiency. Benefits that drive growth in this area include:

• Better predictive maintenance
• Optimized operations
• Mitigated labor shortages

Training

• Forecasted growth: $3.2 billion in 2025 to $7.7 billion in 2044

In the Asia-Pacific region, it’s becoming more common to require Competency-Based Training and Assessment (CBTA). This contributes to growth in the training market as more than 1.06 million new aviation roles could be needed by 2044. This encompasses:

• 302,000 aircraft maintenance technicians
• 282,000 pilots
• 473,000 cabin crew

The 2025-2044 Airbus GSF also notes that maintenance operations support and ground operations could see significant growth as well. The company anticipates growth to $46.4 billion by 2044 for maintenance operations support, which includes:

• Engineering services
• Fleet-wide planning
• Inventory management
• Technical records

For ground operations in Asia-Pacific, Airbus forecasts growth to $31 billion by 2044. Key reasons for growth in this area include digitalization and automation in ground support.