Drone Delivery Canada (DDC) is to deploy its drone delivery solution at Edmonton International Airport (YEG) in Canada.
Under a series of 12-month agreements with an aggregate value of C$417,000 (US$310,000), DDC will expand its defined route delivery from Edmonton Airport with an additional DroneSpot at a medical clinic located in the city of Leduc, Alberta. The medical clinic is wholly owned by Montana First Nation and provides health care services to indigenous and non-indigenous Canadians.
The current delivery route from Edmonton Airport to the off-airport DroneSpot in Leduc County, which formed the delivery route for the first phase of the project, will be maintained. Cargo delivery from Edmonton Airport to the medical clinic will be in addition to this.
All operations will be conducted per applicable Canadian regulations and/or Transport Canada-specific approvals, with flights remotely piloted by DDC from its operations control center located in Vaughan, Ontario. The Canary remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) will also be used on this route once it is operational.
DDC will commence deployment of the site infrastructure shortly and expects to begin providing drone delivery services under the commercial agreements later in 2024. The Edmonton Airport drone delivery project, which began with the execution of an agreement with Edmonton Airport in 2019, won an XCELLENCE Award in Innovation award from the Association for Uncrewed Vehicles Systems International in 2022 and became commercially operational in May 2022. During the first phase of the project, over 2,400 flights with a total flight distance of over 6,500km were completed. The new agreements add a second leg to the operations originating out of the central DroneSpot at Edmonton Airport.
Steve Magirias, CEO of DDC, commented, “We are very pleased to sign these new agreements as part of the next phase of our operations at Edmonton International Airport, as well as introducing two new partners as part of the agreements. This next phase will enable us to further expand our delivery capabilities, showcase our Canary RPA, and explore new use cases for RPA delivery within the YEG area.”
“As we build out the drone delivery demand, we continue to safely innovate the process through a collaborative approach with our partners,” added Myron Keehn, president and CEO of Edmonton International Airport. “We are proud to advance sustainable solutions to first- and final-mile delivery at Edmonton International Airport and the surrounding region. Part of our commitment to being net zero by 2040 is creating opportunities for sustainable transportation and aviation, and we are excited to continue supporting and enhancing the future of drone delivery in the Edmonton Metro Region.”
