Drone Delivery: Small and Big Cargo

Drone delivery was and is one of the focal points when people talk about the drone industry. However, the answer to the question: “Will my Pizza soon come by drone?” in most cases will for the foreseeable time be ”not likely”. Last-mile drone delivery is very complex – other delivery scenarios (e.g. delivery to a small packaging station) are more likely, especially in densely populated city centers. Nevertheless, in the suburbs and rural areas, drones already deliver retail, food, and medical supplies to “the doorstep” today.

The first drone deliveries to take off have been those carrying medical goods. They are proving to be transformative for under-developed countries like Rwanda, Ghana, Vanuatu, and soon India and the Democratic Republic of Congo where they test and conduct medical drone deliveries. In more western countries, Switzerland has employed them for two years, testing organ transplant deliveries while several countries have already enjoyed food deliveries by drone including Iceland, Finland, Australia, the United States, and many more. Finally, as e-commerce and postal service giants like Walmart, Amazon, Rakuten, and JD.com enter the drone delivery market, retail goods and industrial materials are beginning to be delivered by drone. 

When there is no or strongly limited access to infrastructure, big cargo drones offer the most value. Transporting cargo to remote places (e.g. off-shore oil rigs, islands, etc.) often requires slow and costly solutions. Large cargo drones can leapfrog the price-intensive construction of ground infrastructure (e.g. a new road, train track, or ferry slips) and deliver goods directly to the point of consumption. However, the combination of direct, first-mile/last-mile, mid-mile/feeder, and hub forwarding will be a key component for the logistics and success of drone delivery.

Find out more about drone delivery as well as all components of AAM in our Advanced Air Mobility Report:

#dronedelivery #cargo #logistics #deliverydrone #aam #airmobility