Royal Mail launches drone mail deliveries in Orkney

Through the so-called Orkney I-Port operation, letters and parcels will be transported from Royal Mail’s Kirkwall delivery office to Stromness, from where Skyports Drone Services will conduct daily drone deliveries to Royal Mail staff on Graemsay and Hoy.

Funded through the Department for Transport’s Freight Innovation find,  will initially operate for three months, with the intent to extend in the future. The deliveries will be carried out using the Speedbird Aero DLV-2 aircraft, an electric drone capable of carrying payloads of up to 6kg.

This is the first UK drone delivery project which can be conducted on a permanent basis under existing regulatory frameworks. This is due to the unique landscape of Orkney and the proximity of the islands to one another which allows for flights to be conducted using extended visual line of sight (EVLOS) permissions rather than beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) permissions.

The operation is expected to significantly improve the delivery service for some of the UK’s most remote communities, and is also expected to deliver emissions savings over existing delivery methods.