Scilly drone flight paves way for commercial service

News

A drone flight carrying freight to and from the Scilly Isles has laid the foundations for a commercial service between the islands and mainland UK.

scilly

On Friday, December 11, an unmanned Flylogix aircraft made the 60-mile round trip from Land’s End Airport in Cornwall to St Mary’s Airport on the largest of the Scilly Isles. The outward route saw the 40kg UAV transporting an NHS supply box, while local Scilly produce was loaded onboard for the journey back to Cornwall.

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The test flight was a collaboration between offshore drone operator Flylogix and the Isles of Scilly Steamship Company, which owns Land’s End Airport and has maintained a link from Cornwall to Scilly since 1920. The UAV was remotely controlled by a qualified pilot with the assistance of an autopilot and geo-location system, flying at a fixed height to maintain separation with manned flights along the air corridor. There are plans to develop a bespoke UAV for a regular commercial service that will eventually be fully autonomous and increase on the 5kg payload capacity of the test flight.

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