This week, Royal Mail announces a trial of the first out-of-sight, autonomous scheduled drone flights between the UK mainland and an island. The trial will see the Company use Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle (UAV) flights to deliver Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), COVID testing kits and other mail to the Isles of Scilly.
Royal Mail has also become the first to execute inter-island parcel deliveries across the Scillies, as part of the trial.
The Government-funded project, which has been developed in partnership with DronePrep, Skyports, Consortiq Limited, University of Southampton, Excalibur Healthcare Services and Windracers Limited, will initially have a particular focus on helping to fight the pandemic by delivering crucial PPE and testing kits to the islands’ most vulnerable and remote communities.
Royal Mail drone trial is a UK first
Royal Mail has announced a trial of the first out-of-sight, autonomous scheduled drone flights between the UK mainland and an island. The trial will involve the use of uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) flights to deliver PPE, Covid-19 testing kits and other mail to the Isles of Scilly.
Parcels will be flown to the islands’ airport in St Mary’s by a UK-built twin-engine Windracers UAV, which can carry up to 100kg worth of mail at a time. A smaller VTO drone, operated by Skyports, will then be used to transport items to a number of delivery points throughout the islands.
10th May 2021 11:49 am 10th May 2021 11:49 am
Essential PPE and COVID testing kits have been delivered by autonomous drone flights between the UK mainland and Isles of Scilly as part of trials by Royal Mail and partners.
A test flight from the Cornish mainland to St. Mary’s on the Isles of Scilly is part of the trial of autonomous, scheduled flights (Image: Royal Mail)
Royal Mail has also carried out inter-island parcel deliveries across the Scillies as part of the trial, which is the first to execute ‘out-of-sight’ flights between the mainland and the islands with an Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle (UAV).
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