Drone Delivery

With diabetes patients in Ukraine’s conflict zones cut off from insulin supplies, drones are being roped in to deliver life-saving medication to the people who need it the most.

Israeli on-demand drone delivery specialist Flytrex has expanded its roster of client businesses in its showcase North Carolina operation by adding orders from sub sandwich maker Jersey Mike’s to the array of items it is flying to consumers’ backyards.

The official Twitter account of Canada’s Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) asked its 50K+ followers an all-important question this week: “How are illegal guns reaching the hands of criminals in Canada?” But the department already knew part of the answer, thanks to a drone that had seemingly crossed the border from the United States carrying a shopping bag full of Glock semiautomatic pistols.

Australian logistics and on-demand drone delivery specialist Swoop Aero has struck a partnership with global parcel giant UPS to expand and accelerate its distribution of healthcare supplies in Malawi, and over time elsewhere in the world.

Urban-Air Port, the London-based developer of vertiports for delivery drones and electronic takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicles like air taxis, has opened the doors of its first functional aerial hub – one of 200 terminals it plans to build around the globe in the near future.

Leading instant logistics specialist Zipline is expanding its geographical area of activity from existing African and US operations with new drone deliveries of medical supplies to Japan’s Gotō Islands.

Though it took a bit of preparing to get aloft, Alphabet-owned Wing Aviation is set to launch its drone delivery service in the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) area this week, a bit over five months after the company announced the expansion of its activities in the fast-growing region.

Wingcopter says it’s teaming up with German Airways to explore the use of drones in the delivery of spare parts to offshore wind farms. This development comes days after two Singapore-based firms announced their plans to produce offshore wind farm delivery drones that would operate at 90% lower costs than current methods that involve the use of boats or helicopters.

FedEx says it is joining forces with California-based eVTOL cargo drone manufacturer Elroy Air to explore autonomous solutions within its middle-mile delivery operations. As part of this agreement, FedEx subsidiary FedEx Express will begin testing Elroy Air’s recently announced Chaparral cargo drone in 2023.

High-flying drone delivery company Flytrex says it will launch fast transport of food orders in suburbs around the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex as part of a geographical expansion of its existing partnership with restaurant group Brinker International. 

Wingcopter, an eVTOL manufacturer and drone delivery service provider based out of Germany, has finally roped in ITOCHU, one of the largest general trading companies (sogo shosha) in Japan, as a strategic investor and authorized partner. Wingcopter first hinted at this partnership in December 2021, when it announced an investment from Drone Fund, a Japan-based venture capital firm dedicated exclusively to the drone technology ecosystem.

Amazon’s drone delivery program is again under the scanner with a new Business Insider report highlighting how an experimental Prime Air drone set several acres of a wheat farm ablaze when it crashed in eastern Oregon during a test flight last summer.

Draganfly says it is readying critical lifesaving drones for deployment with Revived Soldiers Ukraine (RSU), a non-profit organization focusing on medical response and rehabilitation of injured troops in Ukraine. While 10 medical drone delivery platforms and search and rescue drones will be dispatched by the Canada-based UAV manufacturer immediately, the initial order size can go up to 200 units, the company says. In addition, Draganfly will be donating three drone systems to RSU.

Drone delivery partners Skyports and Swoop Aero are extending their joint operations through an additional linkup with German pharmaceutical logistics specialist BD Rowa, with aims of integrating autonomous air transport in the supply chain of medication and healthcare supplies.

Bulgarian cargo drone developer and operator, Dronamics, is expanding its European drone delivery network with two new locations: Germany and Denmark.

Singapore companies F-Drones and Marco Polo Marine are teaming up to create what they say will be the world’s first large-scale, electric aerial delivery UAVs designed to service offshore wind farms – and at 90% less cost than current transport options.

Australian air logistics and drone delivery specialist Swoop Aero has marked another milestone in its healthcare operations in Malawi by delivering Pfizer COVID-19 vaccinations requiring ultra-cold supply chain conditions.

Google’s corporate cousin Wing is again expanding its activity in Australia with enlarged drone delivery service in the Canberra area, including orders from its new supermarket client, Coles.

Spright, the drone division of air medical service provider Air Methods, is joining forces with Oregon-based Interpath Laboratory to launch a drone delivery network that can transport lab specimens from remote and rural areas quickly.

Aerospace company AVSS has been awarded a $1.1 million contract by the Canadian government to test whether its parachute delivery system can support drones to drop off packages at locations where it’s difficult to land an aircraft.

Zipline, a world leader in instant logistics, is launching operations in another African nation with on-demand drone deliveries of medical supplies in Kenya’s Kisumu County.