Air logistics in the digital era: a content analysis for current trends and future directions

Digitalisation through the new industrial revolution results in a great transformation in all stages of the supply chains, and air logistics industry under logistics need to embrace these changes to achieve smarter processes and higher efficiency. Current literature related to digitalisation in air logistics lacks in providing a holistic perspective in the field. From this perspective, this study reveals current approaches and future trends in digitalised air logistics by conducting a two-staged content analysis. First, using VOSViewer software, a visualisation is performed with co-occurrence network analysis through keywords in related studies in WOS and SCOPUS databases, respectively. Then, qualitative data analysis is carried out with MAXQDA and related studies were evaluated in detail. Because of the evaluation of all three analyses together, the keywords 'air logistics, digital, ICT, RFID and technology' stand out. These are followed by the keywords 'blockchain, cloud, collaboration, freight, future, innovation, intelligence, IoT, simulation and smart'. At the end of the study a framework for digitalised air logistics industry that includes research trends, i.e., policy development, technology development and sustainable development is structured and implications are integrated with results.