Locals in Reykjavik are now getting their takeaways delivered by drone.
The world’s first operational drone delivery service has launched this week in Iceland’s capital city.
The drones transport a range of goods, including groceries and restaurant food, much faster than delivery vans.
The company behind the service plans to scale it up in the next few months to make hundreds of drone deliveries each day.
If you order a takeaway while in Reykjavik, there’s a good chance it will be delivered to you by a drone. The world’s first operational drone delivery service has launched this week in Iceland’s capital city
The drones are operated by Flytrex, an on-demand drone delivery firm based in Tel Aviv.
They are currently flying between two parts of the city separated by a large bay.
The company claims that deliveries that would take 25 minutes by car in Reykjavik can be completed by a drone in just four minutes.
CEO of Flytrex, Yariv Bash, said that ‘this is a working system, not a one-off wonder.’
Deliveries are made by Flytrex’s autonomous delivery drone ‘Mule’, which can carry up to 6.5 pounds (three kilograms) for distances of up to six miles.
To make a delivery, the drone lands in a field in the suburb of Grafarvogur.
Here, it is met by a courier who either drives or walk, depending on the distance, to make the delivery directly to a customer’s home.
The flights are held as part of a partnership with AHA — Iceland’s largest shopping and retail website which operates in Reykjavik.
The company is currently only carrying out one delivery at a time.
It claims, however, that multiple deliveries are possible, and one controller can fly a number of drones simultaneously.
Flytrex aims to make 20 deliveries per day and says it will be adding more over the next few weeks.
In the next few months, it plans to scale that up to hundreds of deliveries a day.
So far, AHA has claims there has been a 60 per cent reduction in drone delivery costs compared with land-based and sea options.
The drones deliver a range of goods, including groceries and restaurant food, while significantly reducing delivery times
AHA has been delivering goods since April 2011, using a fleet of delivery vehicles, focusing on products, groceries and restaurant food in Reykjavik.
But the firm saw the need for change, and teamed up with Flytrex in the hope of making deliveries faster and more efficiently.
Maron Kristofersson, CEO of AHA, said: ‘In the recent months there has been a tremendous increase in our online delivery orders, especially in the retail products and we are forecasting a very expedited growth in the grocery deliveries in the coming months.
Deliveries are made by Flytrex’s autonomous delivery drone ‘Mule’, which can carry up to 6.5 pounds (three kilograms) for distances of up to six miles
AHA has been delivering goods since April 2011, using a fleet of delivery vehicles, focusing on products, groceries and restaurant food in Reykjavik
‘Over the last four years we have been monitoring online delivery solution technologies around the globe, and feel that Flytrex has a smart, safe and commercially viable solution to the problem.
‘We hope to co-operate with them not only in Iceland, but also internationally in the future.’
While Flytrex is the first firm is launch a commercial drone delivery service, several other firms are working on similar systems.
In March, Amazon’s Prime Air drone made its first US delivery.
The company had successfully conducted drone deliveries in the UK, but consumers across the Atlantic had yet to witness it in action.
The e-commerce giant showed off its Prime Air drone to the public during a conference in California by dropping off a box containing a bottle of sunscreen.
The demonstration brings Amazon one-step closer to commercialising its service, which it said will deliver packages in 30 minutes or less by drones flying up to 50 miles per hour – although it is unclear when this will be available.