A qualitative analysis of the problems encountered in airway and road integration during the COVID 19 pandemic, and their solutions

Although the travel and free movement of people was restricted during the Covid 19 Pandemic, the national and international trade of products continued and the importance of logistics increased and became better understood. The aviation industry was confronted with a major crisis, the likes of which it had never experienced before and there were even periods when all passenger operations ground to a halt, depending on the severity of the pandemic. However, the opposite was experienced in cargo transportation. While cargo capacity that can be offered to the market has decreased due to the disappearance of the capacity reserved for cargo transportation under passenger aircraft, the demand for cargo transportation has increased rapidly. This can be attributed to shopping habits during the pandemic and for the need to be able to rapidly deliver hygienic materials to countries and areas where they were needed. All cargo brought to the airports to be loaded onto aircraft and the cargo that need to be delivered to the final destination after landing at the airports also include an integration with the land route. Thus every change experienced on the air cargo side also affects the land route. This thesis uses content analysis, qualitative research methods, and data obtained from the participants of primary research through face-to-face interviews. The data obtained from these interviews was subjected to thematic analysis with the "NVivo" program and a qualitative analysis was made regarding the problems encountered in freight transportation, airway-road integration and their solutions during the Covid 19 Pandemic in Turkey.