Well, if Royal Mail’s service wasn’t bad enough already, they’re about to add drones into the mix. They’ve announced plans to open up 50 postal routes for delivery drones over the next three years as part of an operation to ultimately deploy over 500 UAVs to remote areas of the country. The whole thing is subject to Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) approval, of course, but this is Royal Mail, so they’ll probably figure out a way. It’s happening in partnership with Windracers, a drone logistics company and the goal is to reduce the emissions of current mail delivery systems including ferries, aircraft and land-based delivery methods. The first routes chosen to receive the new service will include the Isles of Scilly, Shetland Isles, Orkney Islands and the Hebrides.
A number of trials have already been conducted by Royal Mail over the last 18 months with flights on the Isle of Mull in Scotland, the Isles of Scilly just off the Cornish coast and on the Orkney Islands, also in Scotland. The most recent trial on the Shetlands in partnership with Windracers saw mail delivered from Tingwall airport in Lerwick to Unst. This marks a 50-mile trip each way to Britain’s most northerly inhabited island. Royal Mail says that the twin-engine UAVs used in the trial have a wingspan of 10 metres with a “highly-reliable autopilot system” that’s capable of flying in difficult weather conditions. Yes, a 10-metre wingspan is pretty big. Certainly larger than the drones that most of us are used to, and it allows them to carry up to 100kg of mail with two daily return flights between the islands. Letters are then delivered to their final destination by their local mail delivery person. – Simon Thompson, Chief Executive Officer at Royal Mail Eight drone routes are hoped to be established in 2022, with more than 50 additional routes over the next three years supported by up to 200 drones. Ultimately they want to have a fleet of over 500 drones to cover all areas of the UK “and beyond”. [via DroneDJ]
