Chinese autonomous aerial vehicle company Ehang and express delivery giant DHL-Sinotrans jointly launched an automated and intelligent smart drone delivery solution to tackle the last-mile delivery challenges in the urban areas of China.
The two companies will provide customized drone delivery services to DHL-Sinotrans’ customers which will drastically cut delivery time and costs, according to their official statement.
In its inaugural flight today, an Ehang Falcon drone delivered a parcel from DHL-Sinotrans’ service center in Liaobu, Dongguan to the Songshanhu Area, which is about 8km away. The flight took only eight minutes while the delivery time by road transportation would usually take about 40 minutes.
Ehang says its drone can carry up to 5kg of cargo per flight and save costs of up to 80% per delivery.
“Together with DHL-Sinotrans, we are very glad to bring the first smart drone delivery service route to China in Guangzhou; this marks a new beginning in building air logistics for smart cities,” said Ehang founder and CEO Hu Huazhi.
“The development of the UAV industry in China has accelerated in recent years, and with the increasing government support and growing market needs, we expect this trend to continue,” said Yang Daqing, a research fellow with the China Society of Logistics.
Editor: Nadine Freischlad
