Moving walkways for airports market is projected to record a substantial growth rate over the coming years owing to the increasing frequency of air travel across the globe. A travelator or moving walkway used in airports is a moderate-moving transport mechanism that transports individuals across inclined or horizontal plane over a short to medium distance. Moving walkways could be used by standing or walking on them. These are often installed in pairs, one for each direction.
Travelators are becoming more popular across airports owing to the rising number of air travelers, given that air travel has become the most convenient means of traveling, especially over long distances. These walkways efficiently help people traverse the airport premises without them getting fatigued.
They are also easy to use and do not require any added effort in getting on or disembarking as they are of the same height and are moving at speeds that are not very high. Also, airport walkways are outfitted with safety handrails that move with the walkways, making them easier to use.
Moving walkways might be a moving belt with mesh metal or rubber walking surfaces that usually move over the metal roller and feels flexible underfoot, or pallet type which is similar in appearance to escalator steps having metal or rubber grip surfaces. Almost all airports utilize moving walkways to move passengers carrying heavy luggage speedily to cover the long distances among terminal to parking or concourses to the terminal or transport stations.
The moving walkways for the airports market are segmented in terms of type, product, speed, and regional landscape.
With respect to type, the market is classified into belt type and pallet type. Among these, the pallet type moving walkways accounted for 83.3% share of the overall market in 2019 and will record a CAGR of 3.6% between 2020 and 2026.
Pallet type moving walkways are basically flat escalators. This type of moving walkway generally has a metal surface, though they are available with a rubberized tread welded on top of the metal plates.
Based on the product, the market is divided into horizontal and inclined. Among these, the horizontal auto walks accounted for a market share of 91.7% in 2019.
With respect to speed, the market is bifurcated into CMW and AMW. Among these, AMW will depict the market growth rate of 3.5% throughout the assessment period. AMWs present an acceleration section at the boarding area that accelerates passengers to a speed higher than that of traditional moving walkways.
AMWs are generally designed for a high traffic demand and have the highest capacity larger than buses. One of the advantages of AMWs includes that they require only a limited space for installation in comparison to other modes of transport. Also, these are fully electric and have low energy consumption and a low noise level.
From a regional frame of reference, the North America moving walkways market generated $261.1 million in terms of revenue in 2019 and will grow gradually over the study period.