A Google-linked firm is to start delivering takeout meals and other small items to Canberra residents after it yesterday received approval from aviation watchdogs in Australia.
Wing — an offshoot of Google parent Alphabet — has been testing deliveries for the past 18 months, but would now be able to go ahead full-time.
“We have approved Wing Aviation Pty Ltd to operate ongoing delivery drone operations in north Canberra,” the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority said.
The company said that it had been delivering “food and drinks, over-the-counter chemist items and locally-made coffee and chocolate.”
About 3,000 deliveries were made, allowing regulators to judge the project was safe, leading to the first commercial approval in Australia and one of the first anywhere in the world.
Winged drones would only be allowed to fly 11 to 12 hours per day and they must be piloted, rather than fully automated.
The initial area of operations is only about 100 homes, but that is expected to expand quickly.
The regulator did not look at the noise or privacy impact of the project — two issues that emerged during trials.
Wing has argued that drone deliveries reduce traffic and pollution, and are quick — being completed in six to 10 minutes.
A customer uses an app to order the product, which is loaded onto a drone. The drone hovers above its destination, lowering the goods down on a winch-like cable before flying away.
In the US, United Parcel Service last month launched that country’s first authorized use of uncrewed drones to transport packages to recipients.
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