Royal Mail employees pictured alongside the drones
(Picture: PA)Royal Mail will increase its use of drones for deliveries by creating 50 new “postal drone routes” over the next three years.
The company said the move would help provide faster and more convenient services for remote communities.
Drones will also help further reduce Royal Mail’s carbon emissions, the firm said. It currently uses ferries, conventional aircraft and land-based delivery which can be affected by bad weather.
The new service will first need approval from the Civil Aviation Authority (CVA).
The first routes for the new service include the Isles of Scilly, Shetland Islands, Orkney Islands and the Hebrides, with the firm hoping to eventually expand to the rest of the UK.
Royal Mail will aim to use 200 drones over the next three years, increasing to more than 500.
The firm has conducted four drone trials over the last 18 months, including flights on the Isle of Mull in Scotland, the Isles of Scilly off the Cornish coast and between Kirkwall and North Ronaldsay on the Orkney Islands.
Test flights for the new service have been held between Tingwall Airport in Lerwick and Unst – a 50-mile flight each way.
Drones used in the trial can carry up to 100kg of mail for two daily return flights between the islands.
They can fly autonomously but are supervised remotely by “safety” pilots.
Chris Paxton, head of drone trials at Royal Mail, told the BBC that the drones were originally designed to deliver aid in Africa.
“They are able to take off in a relatively short space and land in a similar short area. So they are capable of landing on fields, providing the the area is flat enough,” he said.
“They are very much like a small plane. And the only difference is there isn’t a pilot on board.”
Simon Thompson, chief executive of Royal Mail, said: “On-time delivery regardless of our customers’ location or the weather, whilst protecting our environment, is our goal.
“Even though we go everywhere, Royal Mail already has the lowest CO2 emissions per parcel delivered. This initiative will help reduce our emissions even further.”
Stephen Wright, chairman of the Windracers Group, said: “The middle mile of supply and logistics, especially to remote locations, has long been overlooked by the industry and is ripe for innovation.
“We’ve spent the last five years focused on developing the most commercially viable essential logistics drones so we’re truly delighted to be working with Royal Mail on this ambitious and pioneering deployment of autonomous aircraft.”
