Royal Mail to use drones to deliver packages to UK Islands

British multinational postal service Royal Mail will soon begin to fly packages to more than 70 miles to the Scilly Isles with the help of drones. After the packages have arrived at the islands they will be distributed in to smaller categories and drones that will be delivering at different locations. Although the concept of delivering packages with the help of drones is not new. Earlier Amazon has been showing its interest in to the technology since a long time.

It was in August 2020, when it was reported that Amazon has received a green signal from the FAA to begin drone trials. Now it seems that it has some competition. If things workout as planned, Royal Mail will become the first one in the United Kingdom to make use of drones to deliver parcels. The Windracers Drone will be used for the flights between the UK mainland and the Isles of Scilly. The distance between the Island and UK is just 30 minutes and there is not going to be any take-off and landing points which means that it is going to be an unmanned aerial vehicle.

During the early days the company will be focusing on flying the COVID-19 tests and PPE kits to the islands. There is also going to be space for the traditional mail. In a test conducted last week, the aircraft had flew out from Cornwall at 6 am and had returned back at 8 am. The round trip time was roughly calculated as 2 hours. The Civil Aviation Authority said that the aircraft has been built by the Southampton University.

The aircraft has been powered by two engines and has a maximum take-off weight of 350 kgs. Royal Mail has informed that the drone has the ability to carry 100 kgs on every trip. The company has also mentioned that the aircraft can also be operated under rough weather conditions.

Photo Credits: Pixabay