The Europe Airport Ground Handling Market is projected to grow with a CAGR of more than 8% during the forecast period.

  • The market of Europe airport ground handling systems is primarily driven by factors such as a growing fleet of aircraft to cater rise in demand for air travel and increasing need to avoid baggage handling and passenger handling delays to increase the operational efficiency of airports. Passenger traffic across the European airport network grew by 3.2% in the year 2019. The total number of passengers at EU airports in 2019 was 2.43 billion which is 32.4% more than in 2014.
  • The increasing investments in airport infrastructure to increase the passenger and aircraft handling capacities through the expansion of existing airports and construction of new airports are anticipated to increase the flight frequency at the airports, thereby accelerating the growth of the market.
  • The introduction of new eco-friendly ground handling systems is likely to attract contracts from ground handling service providers to support green airport initiatives of airport authorities.



Key Market Trends

The Aircraft Handling Segment is Anticipated to have the Highest CAGR During the Forecast Period

Aircraft handling segment is expected to have the highest growth in the Europe airport ground handling systems market during the forecast period. This is mainly due to the growing fleet of major airlines in the region which has led to an increase in the flight movements at the various airports in the region. Since 2010, 76% of the growth in passenger demand at Europe’s airports has come from LCCs. For managing the increasing aircraft operations, the need for advanced aircraft handling systems has increased. The major players are investing heavily in research and development of products to provide advanced aircraft handling products in accordance to the safety norms. For instance, in November 2018, Fraport and Lufthansa co-tested remote-controlled aircraft tug at Frankfurt Airport. The e-vehicle is smaller than the size of many conventional tugs, and it can be stationed and charged in a fixed parking position. So, it is available for use at all times and avoids long travel distances between individual positions. e-vehicles can manage between 30 and 50 pushback procedures without having to be charged, helping to limit emissions. Incorporation of such advanced technology solutions for aircraft handling will propel the growth of the segment in the coming years.

The United Kingdom has the Highest Share in 2019

The United Kingdom accounted for the largest share in the Europe Airport Ground Handling Market. The total passenger traffic in airports of the UK was 296.8 million passengers with about 3,088 thousand aircraft movements in 2019. Heathrow airport and Gatwick Airport were the busiest airports in the UK in 2019, with cumulative passenger traffic of more than 125 million passengers. With the growth in air traffic, the United Kingdom government has planned to increase the capacity of all the major airports in the country by 2030. Also, airports like Manchester Airport are testing the zero-emission ground handling equipment like belt loaders, push back tugs and multi-purpose cargo tractors. Such introduction of eco-friendly equipment and the stricter new emissions norms of the UK government along with the ageing ground handling equipment infrastructure is expected to accelerate the demand for new airport ground handling systems during the forecast period.

Competitive Landscape

The Europe Airport Ground Handling Market is fragmented, with several players accounting for significant amounts of shares in the market. Some of the prominent companies in the market of airport ground handling systems in Europe are Cavotec SA, Beumer Group, JBT, Adelte Group SL and Textron Inc. These players are investing heavily in research and development of future technologies to reduce the efforts of the ground support staff. Ground handling services providers are focusing on the expansion opportunities into the region, as the demand for new equipment is increasing. For instance, after receiving a five-year contract at Birmingham airport for Flybe, World Flight Services is investing into the procurement of new management control systems and in new ground support equipment to ensure the efficiency of its Birmingham operation. Such expansion of service providers into new airports as well as growing demand for zero-emission GSE are anticipated help the GSE manufactures to increase their sales in the coming years.

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