The global ground support equipment (GSE) market is projected to reach $22b by 2027, according to recent research by Allied Market Research (AMR).
In 2019, the market was valued at $13.02b, and AMR’s forecast registers a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.7% from 2020 to 2027.
At present the U.S. dominates the trade, followed by Canada and Mexico, but Mexico is expected to grow at a higher CAGR during the forecast period.
Factors such as increase in air traffic and cargo, rise in focus of airports on enhancing operational efficiency, high service standards, and leasing of ground support equipment are how the projections are measured, but high initial investments required for purchasing of the GSE market are expected to impede the stated market growth.
A surge in focus toward procurement of greener GSE, outsourcing of maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) to third party, and increase in use of wireless technology is expected to create numerous opportunities for the key players operating in the global ground support equipment market size.
A great deal of capital expenditure is required to deploy ground support equipment. For instance, in May 2017 Air India SATS Airport Services invested $0.77m in India’s first automated aircraft cleaning machine.
This automated aircraft exterior cleaning system would be installed at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, and carried out by Nordic Dino II, an automated purpose-built system. In addition, it would be challenging for those players that have constrained working capital and tight margins.
This involves huge amount of maintenance cost, which is expected to hamper the growth of the global GSE market.
Further, costs required to acquire, maintain, and operate a fleet of aircraft GSE are very high, so GSE fleet owners and managers are continuously looking to monitor and control such costs.
And wireless is emerging as a growing tool to address these ongoing challenges. Use of wireless technology in GSE would not only help to optimise GSE maintenance management but also increase security, safety, productivity, and fleet allocation.
The wireless choices include ‘closed loop’ long-ranged RFID-based systems and general packet radio service (GPRS) mobile data system or ‘WiFi’ system.
It is necessary for GSE fleet managers and owners to decide the best technology based on their requirements so the emerging use of wireless technology is opportunistic for the expansion of the GSE market.
