FlyingBasket cargo drone maker completes first urban flight
Despite the obvious potential of autonomous commercial drone deliveries, these services need a very long time to become mainstream. The issue is mainly regulatory: the technology has been more or less ready for many years, but authorities are nervous about releasing swarms of drones over densely populated areas, even though the alternative is releasing swarms of motorcycles and other vehicles onto the streets.
If the problem is safety, we all should really ask which option has the worse characteristics. In any case, a number of trial operations are currently underway, such as the very popular Wing service in Queensland (Australia).
In addition, an important milestone for the future of urban air mobility (UAM) was witnessed in the Italian city of Turin, where European leader in industrial cargo drones FlyingBasket completed its first urban flight.
The flight was part of a logistics demonstration in cooperation with Leonardo, an Italian global high-technology company among the leading players worldwide in aerospace, defense and security, as well as Poste Italiane, an Italian postal services provider.
The FB3 eVTOL cargo drone, with a payload capacity of 100 kg, has been in commercial operation since 2020, when FlyingBasket received its first operational permit to perform complex logistics tasks in sparsely populated areas. FlyingBasket, which has gained extensive drone operator experience in several European countries, became a reliable choice for this pilot project.
The mission started from the Poste Italiane coordination center in Turin (Piedmont, Italy), and parcels were delivered by two drones developed and operated by FlyingBasket, over the Stura di Lanzo river. One drone with a cargo compartment and another with a suspended payload each carried 26 kg over a distance of 3.9 km to the destination.
The suspended payload with a cargo hook enables convenient delivery without the need for landing infrastructure, while the cargo compartment is designed to simplify loading and unloading. The demonstration provided a convincing example for flights beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS, drone flights beyond the pilot's direct view) in the context of advanced air mobility (AAM).
“The future of logistics belongs to autonomous cargo transport. This mission demonstrated the incredible potential of cargo drones in megacities. Today we carry 100 kg with a single unmanned aircraft, and in the future a fleet of autonomous drones will not only meet growing logistics needs but also increase flexibility and shorten delivery times”
FlyingBasket is at the forefront of the drone industry, as the company became the first in Europe to receive confirmation for cross-border operations based on an operational permit issued by the Italian aviation authority ENAC. ENAC granted FlyingBasket permission to operate in the city of Turin based on a risk assessment, the demonstrated level of operational safety, and the design of the FB3 drones, which once again proved their reliability in demanding conditions.
This is not the first commercial drone delivery in Europe: for example, Wing in Helsinki already lets people have lunch and coffee delivered by air, and other operations are gradually beginning to open up. However, a large payload shows how convenient these things will be in logistics operations, beyond direct customer deliveries.
Thanks to such achievements, the UAM sector is gaining momentum, encouraging active measures from key stakeholders to support the development of automated and sustainable logistics.
Together with regulators and industry leaders, FlyingBasket intends to continue working on offering efficient and flexible solutions for unmanned aircraft in safety-critical conditions across Europe, and soon worldwide.
It seems that once these services get the green light for full-scale operations, they will have an instant transformative impact. Short-distance food delivery will be faster than ever before and possibly cheaper. Delivery jobs will be put under extreme strain, as a result of which vans, small trucks, motorcycles and e-bikes will disappear from the roads.
The buzz of small propellers will become a familiar urban lullaby, while long periods of bad weather will cause boxes to pile up in logistics centers.
FlyingBasket is an Italian company based in Bolzano (Italy), specializing in the development, production and operation of cargo drones with payload capacity of up to 100 kg to date. The company was founded in 2015 and since then has become a benchmark in the commercial cargo drone industry.
FlyingBasket provides drone transport services to companies in logistics, energy, telecommunications and other sectors. In addition to drone services, Flyingbasket offers its clients regulatory support, as well as training for drone licenses at its FlyingBasket Academy flight school.
Thanks to the international mix of cultural and educational experience, the FlyingBasket team is growing fast and working to unlock the full potential of this innovative technology.
