UK drone starup Inteliports studies Isle of Wight delivery service

UK drone delivery and services startup Inteliports is looking to facilitate the movement of goods between the Isle of Wight and English mainland with proposed UAV services, starting with a six-month trial.

According to the local Isle of Wight County Press, Southampton-based Inteliports has been meeting with local officials and residents to prepare the proposed test run of drone deliveries to the island. The plan would launch UAVs five times a day from a village just outside Southampton to an operation and distribution center on the north tip of the island, about 10 kilometers south.

The project would permit Inteliports to feature a version of its GO UAV drone delivery concept, which enables all functions of the takeoff, landing, flight navigation, and payload handling process using compact, automated modules. Those units are fitted inside standard cargo containers, but can be tailored into larger and more aesthetically pleasing architecture blending into urban landscapes. 

Last October the company completed trial of its GO drone delivery nodes at the Snowdonia Aerospace Centre in the north of Wales, where it also carried out beyond visual line of sight tests. 

Inteliports is still continuing the public consultation phase of its plan for the Isle of Wight, and is responding to local concerns about potential road traffic for last-mile legs of delivery.

Startup founders also fielded questions about the noise and safety of drones amid the often windy conditions they’d have to navigate on the island. 

Inteliports chief of strategy officer David Parks explained to residents that increasing demand for same– or next-day deliveries is on the rise across the Isle of Wight – and the globe. Use of drones, he noted, is not only a lot less polluting than ship and road options currently relied on for transporting the increasing flow of orders. Those aerial options, meanwhile,  would remove thickening ground traffic residents are already worried about into the sky.

“Our mission is to build a scalable service that can integrate this net zero project in a commercial manner,” Parks told the County Press, noting the startup understands it will need to adopt a gradual approach to overcome local concerns about drones suddenly appearing overhead.  We want to take things a bit slower.”