Use of UAVs for Commercial Transportation, Dissertation Example

Literature Findings

The literature review has highlighted the fact that while the use of unmanned aerial vehicles shows an upward trend, the public is more supportive towards their use in commercial, agricultural, and military sectors than passenger carrier services. As the topic of the current study is to evaluate the current state of UAV industry; in particular focus on legislation, research and development, collaboration of industries, and cost-effectiveness, the further chapters of the research study will focus on these types of UAV utilization. It has been stated in the literature examined above that in the current form, UAV-s are not suitable to meet the strict aviation regulations, therefore, further research and development is needed. This brings up an important issue: funding, research, collaboration, and testing. In America, the advancement of UAV vehicle development was only possible because the government has supported the initiatives. Therefore, it is crucial that the researchers review the legislative background in Europe, as well as the level of government support provided for the emerging industry.

In Europe, according to Wezeman (2007: iv) the main use of UAV-s is non-combat military support. The most common method of utilizing UAV systems is when the vehicle is “remotely-controlled or can fly autonomously based on pre-programmed flight plans or more complex dynamic ‘self-thinking’ systems” (Wezeman, 2007:iv). The main systems used by operators of UAV-s in America and Europe alike are making use of optical/electro-optical sensors in order to perform a reconnaissance role.

Methodology

The aim of the study

The below research is designed to review how pilots and the public feel about the introduction of UAC-s in commercial flight services.

Study design

The author of the study has created two different types of research: Qualitative and quantitative. One is based on recorded answers of 162 people who have travelled by air abroad before. The qualitative analysis of the report will be attempting to answer the question whether or not there is a general support for the new technology. The other research is designed to record the personal perceptions of two current pilots working for Turkish Airlines about the safety, effectiveness, and general prospects of flying UAV-s in Turkey.

Data collection

Public surveys were conducted over the internet, by sending out pre-written sheets of the questionnaire.  This was allowing the researchers to determine whether age and gender influences one’s perception about the use and safety of unmanned aerial vehicles. Further, the author recorded how many times the respondents flew in the past year, to find a correlation between the frequency of flying and perception of unmanned aerial vehicles.

The interviews with two working pilots in Turkey were conducted to record answers from the professional perspective, and compare them with public perception results.

Ethical and privacy issues

Personal details, names, and occupation were not recorded, however, age groups and genders were. Respondents were fully informed about the purpose of the study and the use of their answers.

Data analysis and variables

The author was seeking correlation between frequency of flight, familiarity with UAV technology, and attitude towards using unmanned aerial vehicles in commercial flights.

Data analysis

Public survey data was analysed using percentage calculation within Excel program. Correlations were calculated based on the average score for each answer.

The History of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Future Predictions

The European Commission (2007) reviewed the history of unmanned aerial vehicles and their utilization in military procurement. The vehicles have been utilized in military operations during the Vietnam, Israel, and Gulf wars. While the United States started utilizing these vehicles early, the first time UAV-s were fully deployed in action in Europe was in the mid-1990-s (European Commission, 2007: 5). During the Bosnia and Kosovo wars, situational awareness problems occurred, and this held back further developments. The authors of the study predict that the investment into military procurement in Europe is likely to increase in the next years.

Interestingly, the production of HALE (high payload capacity) unmanned aerial vehicles is now rising globally. Predicting the future of UAV-s in the civil and commercial market within Europe between 2008 and 2020, the commission states that the production levels will be multiplied. The below chart is clearly highlighting the growth of different utilization segments.

Wezemann (2006) states that up to the 1960-s, the use of UAV-s was limited to pre-programmed flights and remote radio control operations. This utilization method had its constraints, as the flight length was limited by the range of the controller. The first European-made UAV was created in the United Kingdom in the 1950-s. The utilization of these vehicles in Europe during live military operations only started in the 1990-s.

UAV-s in Europe and Turkey

Reviewing the situation of unmanned aerial vehicle application in Europe, the European Commission (2007:27) summarizes the main strengths and weaknesses of the industry. It is important to review the findings, as they will determine the development areas of unmanned aviation application in commercial flights for the future.

Strengths.

The strengths of the UAV industry determined by the European Commission (2007) include:

– strong technology base

– strong industrial and manufacturing base

– growing experience of the military sector

– access to export markets

– NATO as a strong home market for military use, and agricultural application

European Union.

It is evident that the development of unmanned aviation vehicle construction and manufacturing is supported by the industrial diversity of Europe. Within the European Union, technological advancements and a highly competitive industrial landscape support the development of the industry. Further, the report states that the civilian and commercial sector of Europe (European Community and NATO member states) is significant, therefore, the present technology could be replaced partly with UAV-s, in order to make the aviation industry more effective and cheaper to run. Still, the European Commission (2007:28) states that “In order to remove this major road-block, a variety of European bodies, working groups and consortia are actively working on developing technologies and legislative guidelines which will eventually lead to the creation of the required engineering and legal outputs. At present progress, though slow and often apparently muddled, compares favourably with that being achieved in North America”.

Weaknesses.

Several weaknesses and barriers to development have been identified by the European Commission (2007).

– lack of legislation

– lack of coordination of research and development across companies

– lack of funding and government support

– late start creates disadvantage compared to the USA

It is evident that the lack of legislation holds back the development of the UAV industry in Europe. The main shortcomings of the business environment determined by the research are legislative and engineering. Further, Europe is highly dependent on non-European countries, and does not have sufficient supporting industries.

Wezeman (2006:6) states that “today, UAVs range from extremely simple, short-range ‘vehicles’ for battlefield use, to multi-million dollar ‘aircraft’ with almost global reach”.  Many of these vehicles used for surveillance have a low payload, while they only carry a camera. Others have a complete intelligence system on board linked to the ground radars.

Current research and development in Europe is strongly focused on large or medium-sized UAV-s and their supportive systems, such as sensors (Wezeman 2006: 7). The author also confirms that countries are investing into research and development as they see a growing demand in the future. As he concludes: “the demand for the expensive and technically complicated HALEs derives from some well-developed large, rich countries that either have extensive maritime patrol needs or enjoy ‘regional power’ status, such as Australia, Japan, Turkey and India” (Wezeman 2006: 11).

Turkey

Alemdaroglu (2012) determines different types of UAV-s used in Europe and Turkey, and reviewing the capabilities, advantages, and disadvantages of each of these will be beneficial for the future research.

The different abilities and uses of the various vehicles used in Turkey are demonstrated below. Different unmanned aviation vehicles come with various payload capacity, range, and they can fly in different altitudes. Therefore, these characteristics need to be reviewed in order to determine which types of vehicles would be cost-effective to introduce to commercial aviation, considering the current regulations in the region regarding altitude and range.

The potential use and the future market segmentation is determined by the author, in order to predict the future of UAS.

In Turkey, UAS-s are mainly used for military operations; just like in Europe, the government is the largest user. Therefore, as the author confirms (Alemdaroglu, 2010: 7), there is a development opportunity for mini, tactical, and MALE (medium altitude long endurance) systems.

The current situation of the unmanned aerial vehicle manufacturing and utilization is described by Alemdaroglu (2007: 7). The author concludes that the main fields of utilization are border security maintenance, search and rescue, and surveillance. However, the author also predicts that the civic use of these vehicles is going to rise in the next years. Unmanned aerial vehicles are suitable for agricultural surveillance, public security, environmental monitoring, traffic control, energy line protection, and police operations. Universities have taken part in various research project in Turkey, to create ground control, tactical UAV systems, as well as MEM based autopilot operation systems.

The Turkish Civil Aviation Assembly Sector Report (2013) highlights some of the national developments and research projects related to unmanned aerial vehicles. TAI developed an unmanned aerial vehicle system, called ANKA for the purposes of surveillance, target detection, and intelligence. Consisting of four MALE vehicles with the supporting ground data terminal, a ground control station, and an automatic landing/takeoff system. The report (Turkish Civil Aviation Assembly Sector Report 2013:1-17) states that while the current design of the UAV is not suitable for civil or commercial aviation, it can be further developed to meet industry expectations of aviation and air cargo factories.

As the domestic passenger traffic in 2011 was 58.258.324, it is likely that the number of people flying within the country will increase, due to the lower costs of flights and the improved infrastructure. While the number of passengers on international flights grew at a lower rate, it is evident that the utilization of unmanned aircrafts would be suitable for the Turkish market. As there are short-to-medium distances to cover between domestic airports, and the geology being somewhat unsuitable for land travel and carriage, there is an opportunity for introducing UAV-s for domestic flights.

The above statement seems to be confirmed by the findings of the Transportation in Turkey (2011) report. The authors state that the domestic and international air cargo industry grew by 132 percent (Transportation in Turkey, 2011:11). In 2010, domestic cargo transportation reached 1.4 million tons. The greatest growth in cargo transportation in between the years 2002 and 2010 was in the domestic field. This finding has an important implication for the current research. The commercial use of aircraft, due to the increased cargo activity is growing. Therefore, there is a significant market for the introduction of UAV-s in commercial cargo domestic operations. This, hence, indicates that there is a need for medium range and high load capacity UAV development in Turkey, or purchase.

In the civil aviation sector or Turkey, there were over 30.000 licensed personnel working in 2008 (Transportation in Turkey, 2011:13). Forty percent were working within ground services, while 23 percent of personnel were pilots. The human resources implication of the number of pilots (7206) is evident. By introducing UAV technology to commercial flights, it is likely that companies could make a substantial saving long term. Still, the below research findings will conclude that the general perception of UAV-s within the Turkish population creates a difficult situation for policymakers and companies alike.

The Turkish Civil Aviation Assembly Sector Report (2013) created an air traffic forecast for Turkey in the next years. The growth rate of passenger traffic is predicted to be 0.10 percent from 2012 to 2013, and 0.07 percent for the following two years. Similarly, the total of airport traffic is expected to grow by 0.10 percent in the first year (2012-2013) and 0.08% for the next two years. This prediction indicates that the growth of cargo freights will be higher than passenger aircraft traffic. The above forecast is in line with the initiative to introduce UAV-s in cargo aircrafts first, as it is a market that grows faster, and the acceptance rate of using unmanned aerial vehicles in the public is higher, as it will be later confirmed by the survey results.

The Turkish Civil Aviation Assembly Sector Report (2013: 3-1) states that “Air transport activities had an annual improvement of 10%, with this contribution increasing all the time. This indicates that Turkey has a remarkable role in commercial activities and that Turkey is a country making rapid development in the world economy”. Given the good relationship of the country with international organizations, individual countries, and the supportive political environment for development, it is clear that there is an opportunity in the market to improve the quality of air travel and commercial transportation through introducing UAV-s. Consultation, therefore, should be started by investors, research and development companies, universities, and individual researchers to create a foundation for the next generation of cargo flights: UAV-s that are able to handle medium range missions, have a high payload, and can be safely operated within the Turkish airspace.

Air Transport Policies in Turkey.

The targets of the Turkish government for the future of the domestic and international aviation sector are clearly outlined in the Transportation in Turkey, (2011:30) document. The government is planning the  “construction of one airport with a capacity of 60 million passengers/year and three airports with 30 million passengers/year capacity, are among the objectives of the sector. Another important target is to reach to a civil aviation fleet compromising of more than 750 aircrafts”. (2011:30). Further, the authors state that Turkey holds airport transport agreements with more than a hundred other countries. This, along with the government’s initiatives to support air transportation creates a positive environment for introducing UAV-s.

Research

Previous Findings.

Sprague (2004) concluded various interviews with military and police department personnel regarding the utilization opportunities of the MIT helicopter in order to find out the most common activities and services carried out by the forces, and determine whether UAV-s would be able to reduce workflow and be able to complete some of the tasks. The author found that most of the activities carried out by police forces, apart from surveillance need in-person interaction. Therefore, the use of UAV-s would only be possible for surveillance. However, giving the low budget of regional fire and police departments, purchasing a vehicle would not be a feasible option.

Interviews with Pilots

The author of the current study also conducted interviews with current aircraft pilots.

Interview Findings

Out of the 161 randomly selected participants, 75.6% were male, while 24.8% female. 37.27 percent of the participants were aged 18-24, 49.67% between 25 and 45, while 0.62 percent over 60. Out of the participants, 38.51 percent reported to fly less than once a year, 13 percent flew between 1 and 10 times, while 22.36% flew more than ten times a year.

Answer Analysis

 Research Findings

Taking into consideration the characteristics of the population, and the random selection method, the findings are detailed below. It is important to note that the sample of 161 randomly selected participants should not be used as representative, however, it does provide an indicator of the general public’s perception about the utilization of unmanned aerial vehicles.

Only 18.63 percent of the participants stated that they would fly on an airplane that is fully automated and does not have a pilot. It is important to note that there are some gaps in the general public’s knowledge about navigation and safety of UAV aircrafts, therefore, the answers given are likely to be based on general concepts and emotions than facts.

When asked whether they would fly on aircraft that is remotely controlled from the ground, the percentage of “yes” answers did not increase much: it was 19.88 percent. On the other hand, 50.31 percent (over half of the respondents) stated that they would fly on an aircraft that is controlled by computers but monitored by an on-board personnel.

When asked about price incentives, almost half (48.46%) of the respondents stated that they would choose UAV airline services if they were 50% cheaper. This means that the price advantage would increase the popularity of UAV flights.

When asked about cargo transportation, more than three-quarter (78.13%) of the participants said they would support cargo transportation using UAV-s. This indicates that the perceived risk associated with UAV-s is more related to personal safety than air security.

As a comparison, 76.92 percent of the respondents stated that they would support the introduction of fully automated trains.

Interview Results

The researcher of the current study concluded two Turkish pilots employed by a Turkish airline. They were asked about their perception of UAV-s. The questions asked are detailed in the below table, with the positive and negative answers recorded.

Further, the researcher created an interview with Stjepan Bedic is an airline pilot, and CEO to Team Stellar. The interviewee was involved in the Team Stellar program, which is working on developing long term aerospace projects utilizing pilot- less spacecrafts controlled from the Earth. He told the researcher that the reliability of the ground mission control made the developers decide with autonomous space-crafts over manned ones. He also stated that it would be possible to create an aircraft that is able to  autonomously fly medium to long distance, however, it was a matter of precision that determined the success of the project. He also told the researcher that testing reliability, controllability, and safety would take hundreds of hours of testing, and cost investors a substantial amount of money. Regarding fully automatic airlines, his opinion was that in unexpected situations, there is a need for a human supervisor to make decisions based on their previous experience. In his view, “Machines don’t have the capacity to contemplate and take initiative when things fail and make decisions accordingly.” He mentioned several incidents that required human intervention: “the incident “2005 Logan Airport runway incursion” where the flight crew visually saw another aircraft departing the crossing runway and delayed the liftoff after rotation speed and averted a major incident by taking initiative. They were subsequently given flight safety awards for their airmanship.”.

Summarizing the views of Stjepan Bedic, it is evident that airspace congestion and human presence makes automatic flights riskier than spacecrafts, therefore, their perception differs from unmanned space aircraft missions’.

Discussion

The above review of regional and national policies, initiatives, trends, and predictions has resulted in several important findings. The authors have also attempted to record the public’s perception about UAV-s, and their different utilization methods. Like in Europe, the study has found that lack of policy standards and industry collaboration are mainly responsible for the slow development of UAV technology.

The research has revealed that pilots have a negative attitude towards UAV-s in civil aviation, and they assumed that passengers would prefer travelling on an aircraft that has a human pilot in charge. They also automatically assumed that there would be accidents involving UAV-s, as severe weather conditions would make flying difficult. The overall perception of pilots was that there is a need for human intervention in a timely manner. They also claimed that the reason why there are two pilots in the cockpit is because people make mistakes. They, therefore, automatically assumed that computers would make mistakes, just like the single ground operator who would act without supervision.

The survey among randomly selected people among the Turkish population confirmed the above statement of the pilots. Indeed, the majority of respondents rejected the idea of travelling on an air-plane without a pilot. However, they were more supportive towards introducing UAV-s to cargo flights.

It has also been confirmed by the research that currently across North America and Europe the main utilization method of unmanned aerial vehicles is military surveillance and defence. Only a few authors mentioned the possibility of cargo operations in the future using UAV-s. While the national defence agencies do have their own regulation regarding flight safety, governments across the world are still slow in implementing policies and standard requirements for safety features, capabilities, and recommended altitudes for unmanned aerial vehicles.

It has also been revealed that there are several types of UAV-s being developed around the world, and they are significantly different from each other in capabilities, safety features, and operating characteristics. This makes it almost impossible to make research profitable. The size of domestic and international cargo markets cannot be estimated, as it is not known whether companies are willing to take a risk of investing into new technology, knowing that the regulatory background is not yet clearly outlined. The synchronization of manned aerial vehicle control and operations with the new systems is also problematic. Without building a cooperation between current airspace control authorities, governments, researchers, potential commercial clients, the future of UAV-s is not bright in Europe.

The above research has also confirmed that there are cost-related concerns related to the development of UAV-s. Government funding, as it has been confirmed by several studies, has been reduced in recent years, due to the high level of national debt within European countries. While America as a nation also struggles with national debt, the longer history of UAV utilization and the more positive regulatory environment makes the development in the USA faster. This would indicate that while in Europe there is a wide pool of talent for engineering unmanned aerial vehicles, the lack of funding and policy development makes the region lag behind the United States.

It has also been found that Turkey, given its geographical situation, landscape, and geology, would be suitable for developing UAV-s for both military and commercial use.         Recent developments and successful projects have proved that universities in collaboration with large companies and governments would be able to develop vehicles and ground support systems that could be tested for safety and reliability. However, the lack of regulation and standards make it hard to create UAS that would meet the requirements of policy-makers and potential customers.

Reviewing the political and economic environment for development in Turkey, the authors also found that the positive legislative approach, the government’s focus on increasing commercial activity and building on the country’s strategic position bordering two continents, it is clear that Turkey is able to create a system that is able to safely replace manned vehicles. This would not only increase production, but unmanned aerial vehicles could also be exported to bordering countries. It is also important to note that NATO does not only operate planes for military actions, but also for recovery and humanitarian services. Cargo UAV-s that would fly to war zones and safely distribute food items, medication without endangering lives of military personnel would be potentially preferred by NATO.

The Turkish Civil Aviation Assembly Sector Report 2012 (2013: 3-1) confirms that Turkey has the 6^th largest purchasing power in Europe, and because of its strategic location, investment into military and commercial UAV development would be profitable long term.

Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats

The Turkish Civil Aviation Assembly Sector Report (2013: 4-1) created a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and risks) analysis for the civil aviation sector, and the findings of the table will be summarized below. The author of the current study would like to create a SWOT analysis similar to the one created by the Turkish Civil Aviation Assembly Sector Report, focusing on unmanned aviation vehicles.

The main integral strengths of the sector are determined as:

1. Rapidly growing and unsaturated market
2. Geographical location
3. Competitive atmosphere
4. Political support
5. Rising revenues

The major weaknesses of the Turkish aviation sector were determined as:

1. Lack of collaboration
2. Lack of national legislations
3. Relying on import
4. The need for pilots, engineers, technicians and controllers (can be overcome by UAV implementation)
5. Lack of certification system

The external opportunities for the Turkish aviation sector are:

1. Dynamic demographics of the country
2. Turkey can become a regional hub for cargo and passenger planes
3. Recently established collaborative work on technical issues and R&D
4. Large-scale aviation firms’ increasing preference for collaborative development projects

The external threats identified by the report are:

1. Global crises’ impact on economy and production/demand
2. Exchange rate risks
3. Lack of innovation (legislative barriers)
4. Restrictions related to environmental protection

The above SWOT analysis has revealed that introducing unmanned aerial vehicles would be able to reduce some of the risks associated with the Turkish aviation sector, however, there are some uncertainties that make the move risky. As there is a lack of collaboration and legislative consultation, it is not likely that standards will be set soon for the capacity and safety level of future’s UAV-s. The demand for parts and vehicles from abroad and the exchange rate vulnerability could be overcome if research and development for creating effective and low running cost unmanned automatic vehicles was created. Production could be located in Turkey, however, until politicians, researchers, and industry leader companies engage in a meaningful consultation process, it is hard to imagine that any investor would put money in a project of manufacturing and running UAV-s. After revealing the challenges and weaknesses of the Turkish aviation sector and identifying the opportunities and strengths, it is time to focus on the sub-segment of unmanned aerial vehicles for commercial use. For easier interpretation, the author will first present the SWOT analysis in a table format, and add relevant comments to the contents below.

The above analysis has highlighted some of the opportunities that lie in the future UAV market. It is important to note that the term “UAV market” is used as hypothetical, as the demand for services and vehicles has not been researched and officially assessed. The current study is limited to examine the potential of introducing UAV-s in Turkey, and the public perception of their safety. It is not created to estimate future demand for UAV cargo transportation provided that all legislation is in place and systems are tested to be safe to run. Still, as the author has already highlighted, industry reports and research need to be completed in order to ensure that all risks and opportunities are assessed correctly, and the feasibility of a project that tests unmanned aerial vehicles is determined. Without thorough research, it is not possible to tell whether investments into research and development will ever be returned.

Problematic Aspects of Introducing UAV-s In Commercial Aviation

There are several challenges found by researchers and financial analysts related to financing the development of UAS. Frost & Sullivan created a report that found that there are various governmental and commercial (coprorate) issues that negatively affect the future of UAV development and deployment. Governments are indebted, and have limited funds available for sponsoring research and development. At the same time, the perceived risk associated with the use of UAV-s among policy-makers is high. The risks are determined by the authors as follows: technical, currency, and interest rate. For corporates, the main restrains of participating in research and development are the impact on the company’s balance sheet, lack of financial recognition, and the management’s negative attitude towards risk.

Sprague (2004:10) highlights the commercial barriers of UAV application. The dissertation summarizes some of the main constraints the hold the development of unnamed aerial vehicles’ commercial utilization.

As it has been mentioned before, the regulatory background of aviation is not suitable for introducing UAV-s into commercial flights. Using them during military operations is accepted, as they are able to be operated at a cost-effective manner, while reducing human risk, these benefits are not present in civic and commercial use. Reviewing the 2004 situation, the author highlights the fact that “most counties are lacking in airspace regulation that covers all types of UAV systems, including capability requirements such as “sense and avoid” airspace integration, and airworthiness standards”(Sprague 2004:10).

Further, the lack of affordability does create boundaries for future development. The high risk and costs associated with creating UAV-s that are suitable for commercial use are making investors cautious. Indeed, the lack of regulation, uncertainty of the market, as well as the low “return on investment” ratio makes investing into UAV research and development risky and unfavourable.

The diversity of requirements for various UAV-s makes it hard to create a universal vehicle that is accepted for flight, while it has all the features customers are seeking. The capability requirements for various operations are completely different, and it is likely that – apart from military unmanned aircrafts – the market segments for each type of UAV and UAS is not large enough to make the investment into research and development profitable.

Liability is another issue identified that holds back companies from investing into unmanned commercial operations. As the perceived risk of operating these vehicles is high, and the regulatory environment is uncertain, companies would need to face much higher liability insurance payments than those that use traditional commercial flight methods.

The Future of UAV Application

Until legislation discussion is started in the European Union, international organizations, as well as national level, starting to develop operational UAS and UAV systems carries a large amount of risk for investors, governments, and individual aviation companies. The only unaffected area of UAV development seems to be military operations, as the unmanned aerial vehicles have already been tested and tried on the field. While policies and military rules apply to deploying UAV-s, they are not dependent on environmental and civil concerns as much as commercial and passenger utilization would. The above statement clearly highlights the fact that developing and utilizing unmanned aerial vehicles in military was motivated by the reduced cost and risk associated with pilot-less flying. This is, however, not the case in the commercial and civil factor. As industries are over-regulated worldwide, the greatest restraint for innovative technology development is the slow policy-making process. In this sense, governments are holding back industries from developing innovative methods. The lack of willingness to seriously discuss options and gather policy-makers, government agencies, international organizations, and industry players, involving researchers and investors is making it almost impossible to trust on the future of unmanned aerial vehicle development.

The lack of funding is also responsible for the slow process of research. Vehicles that have previously been developed by researchers, suitable for mid-range and medium altitude commercial operations would need to be tested. However, without guidelines of capability, altitude, speed, navigation, and control, there are no standards to test them against.

The negative attitude of the public (see survey results in Turkey) also decreased the confidence in the emerging industry. If governments stated that they accepted safety level standards developed for manned aerial vehicles to UAV-s, it would be possible to measure the effectiveness, reliability, and safety of the newly developed aircraft. Therefore, if countries like Turkey are seriously thinking about becoming a leader in the UAV commercial and cargo market, they need to take the first steps towards opening the legislative discussion.

Conclusion

The findings of the above research have concluded that there is a need for engaging in discussion on international and national level about the future of unmanned aerial vehicles. Their potential has already been discovered by national and international military organizations, however, their utilization for commercial flights and cargo operations is not developed yet. The author has also found that the United States’ government and policy making process is more supportive towards aviation technology development than European parliaments. Given the fact that the public perception of UAV utilization in commercial flights is low, there is a need for collaboration between European countries, research institutions, and companies currently operating in international and domestic aviation.

The author also found that Turkey as a country has several competitive advantages over other European countries, such as well trained talented engineers, previous projects, high buying power of the industry, and favourable geographical conditions. Turkey, indeed, has the ability to become a regional hub, as it has already been confirmed by researchers. To achieve this status, the country would need to take the first steps of creating a consensus among commercial aviation companies, researchers, and policy makers and develop a safety and capability standard for the future’s unmanned aerial vehicle. Until policies and regulations are put in place, it is unreasonable to expect investors put money in research and development projects.

Future Research and Recommendations

As it has been highlighted above, without putting clear and easy to follow legislation in place, the future of UAV research and development is questionable. However, in order to determine industry standards and guidelines, testing of existing vehicles is needed. Testing will cost money. It is clear that the industry’s innovative minds are facing a Catch-22 situation that is hard to overcome. Determining the potential profitability of a market and a service can only be completed through detailed analysis. Therefore, measuring potential customers’ perception of utilizing unmanned aerial vehicles for cargo transportation is necessary. Industry organizations should seek collaboration with national government agencies to create special reports on the opportunities that lie in the commercial utilization of UAV-s, and make informed predictions about the long term profitability of the new technology’s research and development investment.

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