Drone delivery: DHL ‘parcelcopter’ to start daily flights to German island

Deutsche Post DHL says it is starting Germany’s first drone package delivery service, a test program transporting medicine to a pharmacy on a North Sea island. The company said the quad-rotor “DHL Paketkopter 2.0” will begin daily flights Friday, bringing a maximum load of 1.2 kilograms (2.65 pounds) of medicine to the German island of Juist. The island has about 1,500 inhabitants.

Our DHL Paketkopter 2.0 is one of the safest and most reliable flight systems in its class.

Jürgen Gerdes, Director of post, eCommerce and parcels at Deutsche Post

It’s usually served by one ferry per day and an occasional small-aircraft flight, depending on the weather. DHL said today it will monitor each 12-kilometer (7.5-mile) flight to the island, but the water, snow and dust-resistant drone will fly on autopilot to deliver the medicine — at no extra cost during the test. The company says it currently has no concrete plans for full-scale regular drone deliveries.

This is the first time an unmanned drone will do a transport job in the real world out of sight of a pilot.

Jürgen Gerdes

Technology DHL parcelcopter