Europe's largest postal service, Deutsche Post AG, is about to start the delivery of medication as well as other important goods to the Juist island using drones or unmanned helicopters. The company was able to secure approval from the state and federal transport ministries and air traffic control authorities to have their drones fly over a restricted area.
Deutsche Post will be using vehicles, called parcelcopters, which will be operating beginning tomorrow. The flying vehicle is powered by four identical fixed-pitch propellers. The drone will only fly if the weather permits it although it was designed to withstand dust, rain and snow. It is able to fly for 45 minutes and can carry up to 2.6 pounds of load. It will be closely monitored from a ground station.
According to Deutsche Post's board member Juergen Gerdes "With the parcelcopter, an unmanned aircraft operating outside the controller's field of vision will perform deliveries for the first time in a real-world mission."
The German company will be flying the parcelcopters along the 7.5 miles stretch, starting from Nordeich, a passenger port, to a designated area in Juist. The company aims to help improve the availability of medication and any necessary supplies on the island. The island is not reachable by a car, only through ferries and aircrafts.
Deutsche Post AG is operating under the trade name Deutsche Post DHL. It is the world's largest courier company headquartered in Bonn. It has more than 450,000 employees in around 220 countries. Deutsche Post is currently listed in the DAX stock market index.
The trial run of the drones may aid German company Deutsche Post to be able to get a part of the logistics chain where they are being challenged by internet sellers such as Amazon and Google. Several groups are currently lobbying to push drones to be legal.
