This article explores the progress of academic research of air transportation in an emerging country. The foundations of the air transportation field were scanned in the context of postgraduate theses. Postgraduate theses in air transportation were surveyed to illustrate what kind of themes were researched at Turkish universities and what were the tendencies of Turkish academics to study regarding air transportation. The research that spanned a 44-year period from 1972 to 2016 and was carried out by thoroughly examining the postgraduate theses that exist in the electronic database of the Turkish Council of Higher Education. In this research, 329 postgraduate theses- 58 doctorates (17.6%) and 271 masters (82.4%) - were found. The data were analyzed through a bibliometric method by using content analysis.

Inter-firm competition in the field of aviation, which accelerates through liberalisation and globalisation trends, has been investigated by numerous studies in the post-deregulation era; however, it has not been adequately addressed in Turkish aviation market. The aim of this study is to unveil the business strategies and strategic typologies of Turkish passenger carriers, as well as the degree of involvement of firms in the strategic planning process, the current outlook, and the competitive structure of the Turkish passenger air transport industry. The research is designed in a way to collect data through interviews with senior executives of the airlines. In terms of findings, the study concludes that five scheduled airlines and three charter airlines have attempted to implement more than one generic strategy at the same time as an “integrated cost and differentiation strategy,” with the primary strategy being cost leadership. Moreover, the passenger carriers in question displayed the features of “analysers-defenders” mainly linked to the competitive typology viewpoint. This study is believed to lead to a deeper understanding of potential explanations why companies have made specific strategic choices regarding generic strategies and strategic approaches. Regulators, individual companies operating in the aviation industry and prospective companies, investors, etc. can use the results of the study to regulate the market, better understand their competitors, set their priorities and plans, evaluate, and assess the market.

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The air transportation sector is one of the most strategic and vital sectors of the country in terms of economy (foreign trade, foreign-based income, etc.) and especially tourism; so it is critical that the industry be competitive and remain competitive both in the domestic and global markets. Nevertheless, the question of how Turkish airline companies deal with national and international competition and how they determine their competitive strategies is uncertain and has not been adequately addressed in the sectoral or academic context. There is also no clear and comprehensive literature in this regard. In this study, competitive approaches of the charter airlines making passenger transport were researched. By this means, charter airlines position in Turkish transportation present structure and competition of industry was also indirectly demonstrated. In the framework of this study, all charter airlines (Freebird, Corendon, and Tailwind) carrying passengers certified by Turkish General Directorate of Civil Aviation were included in the sample. In the survey, the data were gathered through qualitative research by interviewing senior executives of the airlines with structured questions. The secondary data used for the introduction of airlines were obtained from the internet sites of airlines. As a result of the interviews, it was concluded that an airline company appeared as Analyzer and the other two as Defenders in terms of competitive approaches according to the Miles and Snow Competitive Typology.