Aircraft Seals Market Size, Share, Trend, Forecast, Competitive Analysis, and Growth Opportunity: 2023-2028

Seals are used across aircraft systems to prevent any leakage of fluids and to keep air and dirt out of the systems where they are used. They are critically required to be resistive against high temperatures and pressure and corrosion effects. The selection of material is dependent on several parameters including temperature resistance, pressure resistance, lightweight, flexibility, durability, strength, etc. Elastomer, thermoplastic, and metal are the major materials used for seal construction.

The aircraft seals market highly depends on the organic growth of the aircraft industry. So, in times of booming growth, crisis, or recovery, a similar impact has been seen in the aircraft seals market. After several hiccups in the past few years, the aircraft seals market is likely to grow at a promising CAGR of 7.6% during the forecast period of 2023-2028 to reach US$ 2 Billion in 2028.

Boeing anticipated that there would be total deliveries of 42,595 commercial and regional aircraft in the global marketplace during 2023-2042. Asia-Pacific and North America would be the biggest demand generators with a combined share of 63% of the total commercial aircraft deliveries during 2023-2042. This factor will create a sustainable demand for aircraft seals globally in the foreseeable future.

In addition to that, Boeing and Airbus had a combined total order backlog of 13,775 commercial aircraft by the end of September 2023. This huge pile of order backlogs of commercial aircraft will allow both airframers to roll out their aircraft continuously for the next eight to ten years at current build rates. To cope with such huge order backlogs, they have strategically been raising the production rates of their key commercial aircraft programs to deliver aircraft to their widespread clients in a shorter period. Also, they have been introducing fuel-efficient variants of their best-selling aircraft programs with the purpose of addressing the biggest requirement of the airline industry, which is fuel-efficient aircraft. This factor will further ensure a sustainable demand for aircraft seals in the foreseeable future.

Market Segments

By Aircraft Type

Based on the aircraft type, the aircraft seals market is segmented into commercial aircraft, regional aircraft, helicopters, military aircraft, and general aviation. Commercial aircraft is expected to remain the largest and fastest-growing segment of the market during the forecast period. Airbus presented full-year 2022 and is targeting 720 commercial jet deliveries in 2023. However, supply chain disruption remains the major challenge for airframers to achieve these targets. A320 neo family, B737Max, A350XWB, and B787 are the major contributors to the market. Expected increases in the production rates of these aircraft programs are likely to help the industry stakeholders achieve their pre-pandemic levels in the coming years.

By Application Type

Based on the application type, the market is segmented into airframe; nacelles & engines; aircraft interiors; landing gear, wheels & brakes; flight control actuation and hydraulics; and others. Airframe is expected to remain the largest segment of the market during the forecast period. Seals are used in a wide spectrum of airframe applications including aerodynamic sealing of doors, windows, ailerons, spoilers, canopies, hatches, and panels.

By Function Type

Based on the function type, the market is segmented into aerodynamic surface sealing, air & fluid management seals, fire seals, conductive & insulative seals, and others. Aerodynamic surface sealing is expected to remain the most dominant segment, whereas fire seals to be the fastest-growing segment of the market during the forecast period. Aerodynamic surface sealing is used to fill gaps between flight control surfaces and wings of the aircraft where it improves the aerodynamics by reducing air friction. Fire seals are used in aircraft nacelles, they contain the fire within an immediate area by limiting oxygen entry. Prioritization of the safety and reduction of CO2 emissions are some of the key factors that will continue boosting aerodynamics surface sealing and fire sealing markets over the forecast period.

By Material Type

Based on the material type, the market is segmented into elastomer seals, thermoplastic seals, and metal seals. Elastomer is expected to remain the most preferred material during the forecast period. An elastomer is a polymer with viscoelasticity i.e., both viscosity and elasticity. Elastomers are gaining traction in the aircraft industry due to their lightweight, high-temperature resistance, and greater flexibility. High demand for lightweight aircraft is the key factor for the major use of elastomer seals in the aircraft industry.

By Region

In terms of regions, North America is expected to remain the largest market for aircraft seals during the forecast period. The USA remains ahead in the market with the presence of major aircraft OEMs, tier players, raw material suppliers, and part fabricators. The aerospace industry has most of the suppliers in this region to fulfill the growing demand of OEMs and to be the partner of upcoming aircraft programs or upcoming fuel-efficient variants of existing aircraft programs.

Key Players

The aircraft seals market is fairly consolidated with the presence of a large number of players. Some of the players have been efficacious in building their strong market positioning by developing vast product portfolio, large customer base, and wide geographical presence. The following are the key players in the aircraft seals market:

• Hutchinson S.A.
• Trelleborg AB
• Parker Hannifin Corp. (including Meggitt)
• Freudenberg Group
• TransDigm Group, Inc.
• Recent Market JVs and Acquisitions
• A fair number of strategic alliances, including M&As, JVs, etc., performed over the past few years.
• Parker Hannifin completed the acquisition of Meggitt in September 2022.
• In January 2020, Saint Gobain Seals acquired High Tech Metal Seals (HTMS), which led to its aerospace business growth.
• Saint Gobain acquired American Seal and Engineering Co. and strengthened its portfolio of high-performance solutions for critical applications in the sealing industry.
• In 2019, TransDigm acquired Esterline. Previously, TransDigm acquired the Kirkhill Elastomers Business of Esterline Technologies for a total consideration of US$ 50 million.
• Trelleborg AB acquired EI Segundo, a California-based subsidiary of Coorstek, Inc., in 2016.
• The aircraft seals market is segmented into the following categories.
• Aircraft Seals Market, by Aircraft Type
• Commercial Aircraft (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Regional Aircraft (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Helicopter (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Military Aircraft (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• General Aviation (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Aircraft Seals Market, by Application Type
• Airframe (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Nacelle & Engine (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Interiors (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Landing Gear, Brakes, & Wheels (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Flight Control Actuation and Hydraulics (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Others (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Aircraft Seals Market, by Function Type
• Aerodynamic Surface Seals (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Air & Fluid Management Seals (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Fire Seals (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Conductive & Insulative Seals (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Other Seals (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Aircraft Seals Market, by Material Type
• Elastomer Seals (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Thermoplastic Seals (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Metal Seals (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Aircraft Seals Market, by Motion Type
• Static Seals (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Linear Seals (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Rotary Seals (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Aircraft Seals Market, by End-User Type
• OE (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Aftermarket (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Aircraft Seals Market, by Region
• North America (Country Analysis: The USA, Canada, and Mexico)
• Europe (Country Analysis: Germany, France, The UK, Russia, and Rest of Europe)
• Asia-Pacific (Country Analysis: Japan, China, India, and Rest of Asia-Pacific)
• Rest of the World (Country Analysis: Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and Others)