TAKEAWAYS will eventually be delivered by drones – although it could be “three to five” years before Amazon uses them to deliver packages in Darlington.

That’s the view of technical experts from the North East’s leading drone company, heliguy, following news the online retail giant will trial flying deliveries in the North East town.

The UK-first trial will see Amazon make Prime Air deliveries in a pre-selected 7.5 mile area, with drones guided from the firm’s huge Symmetry Park warehouse.

While the plans have generated a buzz, Amazon still has several hurdles to clear – including securing both planning permission and Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) approval – with the US-firm acknowledging there is “still much work to do” before the flights become reality.

And Mark Blaney agrees.

A former British Army UAV operator, he is heliguy’s Accountable Manager and has amassed thousands of hours of flight time. Having recently helped the North Tyneside company secure UK-first approval from the CAA for ‘groundbreaking’ remote flight, he’s said it is unlikely that

“Unless Amazon are further forward than they’ve stated, or there’s information that hasn’t been made public, the regulatory hurdles alone means this could still be three to five years away,” said Mark, who has almost two decades of experience in the drone industry.

“At heliguy, we recently received the CAA’s first ever permission to make beyond visual line of sight flights in an atypical air environment, which effectively means we can fly a drone – based anywhere in the UK – remotely from our North Shields base.

“However, that approval alone took over a year to secure and the CAA was rightfully very cautious about granting it. The process was painstaking, and the approval Amazon will need for this is a step above and the regulator has a high-bar so it will want to see significant mitigation.”

Besides the red tape, Amazon will also need to construct a Prime Air Drone Delivery Centre near the Darlington warehouse to store and maintain the drones – and deploy them.

However, once the plans take off, Mark believes the sky’s the limit for drone deliveries.

Having secured that UK-first approval from the CAA, heliguy’s now in a position to use drones to carry out everything from remote security patrols to pipeline and turbine inspections, without the need for a pilot on-site – a “gamechanger” for businesses as it makes the jobs quicker, cheaper and more thorough.

Recently, it worked with Durham County Council to inspect over 5,000 solar panels at the authority’s Morrison Busty eco-depot. Previously, the mammoth task took days to complete – but with the help of heliguy’s drones, it took just 80 minutes.

“Eventually, I believe you will have the likes of Just Eat and Uber Eats using drones instead of drivers to deliver your Chinese takeaway on a Saturday night,” added Mark.

“And while it makes sense that Amazon would be the first major company to trial drone deliveries, I think by the end of this decade, you will see more businesses using drones to make deliveries.

“The kit is already pretty much there. Amazon’s using the M30 but we stock the DJI FlyCart 30 which is even more impressive – it weighs over ten stone and can carry a 30kg cargo, which is roughly the size of a washing machine.

“So the existing capability is already immense, the biggest obstacle is regulation. But as that eases and the public trust in them grows, they will become more widespread.

“Within ten years, I could even see the police helicopter being replaced by 24/7 drones – or a fleet of them – and eventually you will look up and they’ll be doing everything.”

Previously, Amazon confirmed customers would be able to opt-in for drone delivery with items set to be dropped into a cargo bay a few feet from the landing site.

The first public consultation is set to be staged on Wednesday February 5.


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