FAA Part 135 Certification clears Flytrex for US drone delivery expansion

Drone delivery company Flytrex will soon be moving to expand its South Carolina and Texas operations across other US states, after it received Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Part 135 Certification to offer unscheduled, on-demand aerial services through its longtime partner, Causey Aviation Unmanned (CAU).

In earning the FAA’s Part 135 Certification through its partnership with CAU, Flytrex may now not only broaden its geographical range of operation, but also diversify the kinds of goods its drones deliver from current food and retail payloads to virtually any product a UAV can tote. As a result, the company is already studying plans to scale its existing networks to cover up 82 million households across the US.

In getting the FAA green light to provide long-range drone delivery services for a full range of products, Flytrex joins a select group of UAV transporters made up thus far of Amazon Prime Air, Alphabet’s Wing, UPS, and Zipline.

The potential for considerable scaling of its US networks roughly corresponds with the forecast Flytrex CEO Yariv Bash made to DroneDJ last year that accumulating experience of leading sector players, along with growing public demand, would soon spark a rapid rise of drone delivery activity.

Flytrex has been front and center of that growth by increasing the neighborhoods – and thereby doubling the potential households – it serves in North Carolina, and launching new drone delivery operations in Granbury, Texas. Bash says there will be more of that expansion to come.

“We live in an era of instant gratification, where consumers want to get their food or goods faster, more reliably, more economically and more sustainably – and drone delivery has risen to the occasion,” said Bash. “Flytrex’s continued success delivering to customers throughout North Carolina and Texas has put us ahead of the curve. With this certification, we look forward to bringing our super swift, sustainable and safe airborne delivery systems to every backyard across the US.”

Flytrex and CAU obtained Part 135 Certification through their long participation in the FAA’s Integration Pilot Program (IPP), which wrapped up in October 2020, and then in its beyond visual line of sight BEYOND project.

That close interfacing with the regulator ­­– and his company’s own tight partnership with Flytrex since it first introduced drone delivery in Reykjavik, Iceland, in 2017 ­– laid the ground for their latest certification achievement, said CAU chief operating partner Jeff Causey.

“Flytrex’s technological expertise, innovation and safety-first approach has helped elevate our service to new heights in drone delivery,” said Causey. “Our close cooperation with the FAA has provided just the right tailwinds to help bring about this drone revolution. We are honored to receive this certification, bringing us one step closer to making drone delivery standard for all US consumers.”