2002’den beri yurt içi pazarlarda, son yıllarda da uluslararası pazarlarda etkisini hissettiren Türk sivil havacılık sektörünün rekabet gücünü değerlendirmek ve bu doğrultuda öneriler sunmak çalışmanın amacını oluşturmaktadır. Bu amaçla çalışmada Porter’ın elmas modeli kullanılmıştır. Analiz sonucunda sektörün nitelikli insan gücü bulmakta sıkıntı yaşadığı, yakıt maliyetlerinden olumsuz etkilendiği; bunun yanı sıra ülkenin coğrafik özellikleri açısından ise avantajlı olduğu görülmüştür. İç talebin yüksek olması ve sektördeki büyüme önemli bir avantajdır. Pazardaki çoğu firma maliyet liderliği stratejisi ile rekabet ederken pazar lideri olan THY; kendi markası ile farklılaşma, AnadoluJet ile de maliyet liderliği stratejisini benimsemiştir. Türk turizm ve lojistik sektörünün büyümesi havacılık sektörünün rekabet gücü için oldukça önemli bir etkendir.

The aviation industry is one of the primary industries that are growing swiftly not only in Turkey but also throughout the World. Turkey is a large country with a growing economy. Given its large size and growing population base demand on air service has increased over the past years. Turkey’s strategic location ensures unrivaled advantages in airline in the region. Turkey is one of the four countries of the fastest growing of the world for the last eight years in terms of civil aviation sector (THY, 2011: 6) By the year of 2011, there are170 air transport enterprises, 65 maintenance and training enterprise, 44 ground handling service, 1079 aircrafts and 67 airports in Turkey. Purpose of the study is assessing the competitiveness level of the civil aviation industry which makes feel the impact in national markets since 2002 and international markets in recent years and offering suggestions in this context. This Porter’s diamond model is used in this study to reach this aim Porter’s diamond model stresses the significance of both internal and external sources in creating firm competitive advantage. The Diamond Model which consists of four national determinants of competitive advantage in a particular industry: (1) factor conditions, (2) demand conditions, (3) related and supporting industries, and (4) firm’s strategy, structure and rivalry (p.71). In addition to these four determinants of competitiveness, there are two indirect variables in the model: (5) chance and (6) government (Porter, 1990: 124-128). Factor conditions are the factors of production and infrastructure necessary to compete in a particular industry. They include the labor skills and natural resources that in early stages of development can provide an advantage. In civil aviation industry factor conditions can be examined under several variables as Porter defined: Labor demand has increased in proportion to the growth rate of the sector in Turkish civil aviation industry. The demand relates to both the flight and ground handling services. Labor in the sector is quite varied. It is reported that number of employees such as air traffic controllers, aircraft maintenance mechanics, flight operation experts, flight technicians, cabin personnel, ground handling personnel has reached the 110.000 people in 2011. The number personnel/employed in this sector are insufficient considering the growth rate of the sector. Also shortage of qualified labor is seen. In terms of geographical conditions Turkey has a favorable climate and terrain for the aviation sector. Aircraft requirements have met by imports owing to absence of aircraft production facility in Turkey. Airbus (Europe) and Boeing (US) companies market share is more than %90 in Turkey aircraft industry. Fuel expenses are one of the most important items of expenditure for airlines. Turkey is dependent on imported fuel and fuel costs have increased in the last 3 years so it causes a disadvantage. Infrastructure investments have increased in recent years. Although a significant change is not observed in number of airports, major changes are seen in airports utilization rate. The most important organizations that provide information about the sector are Directorate General of Civil Aviation) and General Directorate of State Airports Authority. According to the Demand Statistics of 2010 released by IATA (International Air Transport Association), the demand in the transportation sector has contributed to the national gross product at the rate of 14% and has increased about 8% in the past five years. While the demand for road transportation has increased by 7.6%, demand for railway transportation has increased by 2% and lastly demand for marine transportation has increased by 5%. The highest ratio of growth has been seen in air transportation with the ratio of %16 (Anonymous C, 2011: 11). As for the end of the year 2011, 27.415.000 passengers boarded domestic flights, 24.539.000 passengers boarded international flights. The competition in the sector has occurred among the airline companies. Although Turkish Airlines is superior to the others remarkably in domestic flights, in recent years a growing number of other Turkish companies are increasing their market share gradually. There are no international companies operating to domestic flights in Turkey. THY has an important market share both in domestic lines and international lines. THY also has focused more on international flights than domestic flights. In addition, THY has been sponsor for many organizations, famous football clubs (Manchester United and Barcelona), and outstanding sportspeople (such as, Caroline Wozniacki) to increase its brand awareness in abroad. THY, which is a leader in this sector, has determined its competition base as the service quality and trust rather than price. It also competes in the domestic area by operating with Anadolu Jet at reasonable prices. However, Pegasus Airlines has tried to distinguish itself from others on the basis of low price. Onur Air and Sun Express have followed same strategy as Pegasus. These companies also determined appropriate price policy in international flights. THY, has more planes than the others proportionally its market share. THY, which has planes five times more often than its closest competitor, is followed by Pegasus, Onur Air, and Sun Express. THY, as a market leader has co-operated with various universities in Research and Development. In 2006, ITU-THY Technical Design Office was started at the Faculty of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering of Istanbul Technical University (Anonymous i, 2011). In 2011, agreements were made for cooperation in various technological areas between the Universities of Kocaeli and Yalova (Anonymous j, 2011). The other companies have been trying to cooperate with universities although they can't allocate their resources as much as THYcan. The effect of tourism and logistics sectors stand out when considering supporting industries. Tourism industry is highly competitive industry in Turkey due to its long and exceptionally attractive coastline, many natural attractions, unique historical and archaeological sites, a suitable climate, improving touristic infrastructure and a tradition of hospitality. Similarly competitiveness of logistics sector is increasing because of Turkey’s location. Turkey can serve as a transport hub or a link between neighboring countries. Auditing is crucial in civil aviation sector like other sector. It has performed at the international standards. The number of inspections has increased proportionally to the growth of the sector. While civil aviation industry is negatively affected by external factors such as political chaos, acts of terrorism, and diseases; signing agreements for lifting mutual visa requirements for citizens by Turkey and many other countries have positive effect.