Global helicopter market valued at $41.2bn by 2027

The global helicopter market is predicted to reach a value of $41.2bn by 2027, achieving a compound annual growth rate of 6.1%, predicts new research from insight firm Markets and Markets. Key drivers boosting growth from its current value of $31.9bn this year are said to be helicopter demand for emergency medical services (EMS), law enforcement and from the oil and gas industries plus military requirements.

Additional opportunities will be fuelled by technological progress. This was said to include the development of unmanned helicopters, hybrid-electric propulsion systems and advanced avionics.

Factors braking progress in the global helicopter industry over the next four years were identified as high acquisition and maintenance costs, rising fuel costs and stringent regulatory controls plus leading manufacturers’ backlogs. Top manufacturers – such as Airbus Helicopters, Bell Helicopter and Lockheed Martin Corporation – were all experiencing significant backlogs. “Due to limited production capabilities, the OEMS [will] fail to deliver the required helicopters within the expected timeline,” according to the report’s authors.

Bell Helicopter had a backlog of $5.4bn in 2020 due to an increase in helicopter backlogs, said the report. In 2019 Airbus Helicopters received 369 orders and delivered 332, resulting in a backlog of 37 helicopters, it claimed. “The increasing difference between the number of orders and deliveries hampers growth in the global market.”