Drone delivery firm Skye Air Mobility has partnered with Flipkart Health, a pharma business division of e-commerce platform Flipkart Internet Pvt. Ltd. to deliver medicines by drone, said a statement from the companies.
The tie-up took effect with the launch of ‘beyond visual line of sight flights from a Flipkart Health warehouse in West Bengal to multiple locations within Kolkata and suburbs, the statement said on Tuesday.
This initiative will witness up to 20 flights every day, each carrying a payload of up to five kilograms of medicines to be delivered from the warehouse to 10 locations very widespread in the region, the statement said. The maximum aerial distance to be covered by the flight will be 16 kilometres (24 kms by road). The trials will continue till 8 September 2022, the statement said.
It described the service as real-time deliveries ensuring optimal flight safety and temperature monitoring. Medicines will be delivered in far-reaching areas, creating an inter-city/district model for Flipkart Health, the statement said.
“…We are extremely proud on our collaboration with Flipkart Health to enable faster delivery of medicines to the citizens of West Bengal. Drones are faster, sustainable, more accessible, cost-effective to operate and capable of doing multiple deliveries in a day,” the statement said quoting Ankit Kumar, CEO of Skye Air Mobility.
With the ongoing ‘beyond visual line of sight’ trials, we anticipate to gather more data on route, flight and cost-economic viability in order to develop models for commercial flights to begin in the next few months, Kumar said in the statement.
Founded in 2020, Skye Air is a drone delivery company with base of operations in the national capital region and Telangana. The company has successfully operated over 1500 flights delivering healthcare, ecommerce and agri-commodity products, the statement said.
