Aerospace Engineering Services Airlines Market Analysis

In-depth Analysis of Aerospace Engineering Services Airlines Market Industry Landscape

Reducing Carbon Footprint Through Lighter Aircrafts

Making airplanes lighter is really important nowadays because it helps them use less fuel and produce fewer emissions that harm the environment. Even a small reduction of 1% in the weight of an airplane can lead to a 0.75% decrease in fuel usage. The goal for the aviation industry is to keep making planes more efficient, use less fuel, and also cause less air and noise pollution.

Lightweight parts play a big role in achieving this goal. High fuel prices are a challenge for airplane companies because they increase the cost of running planes, making it harder for companies to make a profit. So, airplane makers are always trying to find ways to make their planes work better and use less fuel.

This is where Additive Manufacturing (AM) comes in. In AM, airplane parts are made layer by layer according to a computer design, using just the right amount of material needed. In traditional manufacturing, sometimes a lot of raw material is cut away to create the final part. AM creates parts that are lightweight, using less material compared to traditional methods.

For example, a regular airplane seat buckle made of steel weighs 155 grams. But, if it's made with AM using titanium, the weight goes down to just 70 grams—a 55% reduction. For a big plane like the A380, this reduction means 72.5 kilograms less weight for each plane. Over the average lifetime of the aircraft, this weight reduction saves as much fuel as 3.3 million liters, equal to $2 million in cost savings.

So, AM can help make many other airplane parts lighter, saving billions of dollars for the aerospace industry and, more importantly, helping to reduce the carbon footprint. Companies like Airbus, Boeing, Rolls Royce, and Lockheed Martin are investing in AM because it can save a lot of energy, up to 50% or more in some cases. Rolls Royce even uses AM parts in its Trent XWB-97 engine, and Boeing uses over 20,000 AM parts on its planes. So, the focus on making airplanes in a more environmentally friendly way is a key factor that's making the aerospace additive manufacturing market grow.