Drone delivery is here! China's largest mail firm to deliver more than 1,000 packages A DAY to remote areas using fleet of aircraft
- S.F. Express has a fleet of aircraft flying 500 parcels a day to remote areas
- Firm looking to double number of drones delivering items between couriers
- Goods loaded on drone, address is scanned and aircraft flies to destination
- Courier scans parcel on arrival and aircraft returns to base automatically
China's largest mail company is set to deliver more than 1,000 packages a day... by drone.
S.F. Express has revealed it already has a fleet of aircraft flying 500 parcels a day to remote areas, and it is now looking to double the capacity.
The all-weather drones deliver parcels between couriers before automatically return to base, according to People's Daily Online.
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All-weather aircaft: The drones deliver parcels between couriers before automatically returning to base
Efficient: The drones can fly for up to 16 minutes carrying a parcel weighing 1kg and will cut delivery times
Simple: Goods are loaded onto the drone by a courier, the delivery address is scanned and the aircraft then flies to the destination
The mail company, together with the firm XAircraft, began experimenting with drone deliveries in Dongguan, southern China in 2013.
Peng Bing, the founder of XAircraft, said: 'At present there are 500 drones carrying out courier work in Shenzhen and Huizhou.
'The entire drone operation will reach several thousand units very soon.'
Goods are loaded onto the drone by a courier, the delivery address is scanned and the aircraft then flies to the destination.
The courier at the location prepares a good landing area and when the drone arrives, the parcel is scanned once again and the aircraft returns to its base automatically.
S.F. Express is currently delivering parcels with drones in southern and eastern China, including areas like Huizhou, Zhongshan, Hangzhou and Jiaxing where demands for same-day couriers are high. The Shenzhen-based company is hoping to expand the service to remote villages, farms and mountain ranges.
S.F. Express has been experimenting for the past two years and the third generation drones will operate in seven areas of China in 2015
The use of the drones will result in quicker delivery times and will expand the reach of logistical companies
Flying high: S.F. Express has revealed it already has a fleet of aircraft flying 500 parcels a day to remote areas
There is very little human interaction with the drones and the work is carried out in cooperation with the Civil Aviation Regulatory Authority.
The use of the drones will result in quicker delivery times and will expand the reach of logistical companies.
S.F. Express has been experimenting for the past two years and the third generation drones will operate in seven areas of China in 2015.
The aircraft can fly for up to 16 minutes carrying a parcel weighing 1kg.
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