Wing Drone Delivery in Ireland is “Up Up and Away”
Wing is really excited about drone delivery in Ireland. Not only does it offer the company a foot in the European door for 2023, but the Irish people show a real appetite for this futuristic business, especially after the recent trial successes of Ireland’s own company, Manna Aero.
News first broke of Wing’s foray to the North Dublin suburb of Lusk, a month ago, and since locals have been able to attend meetings, see the craft up close and watch flight demonstrations. A common question at such an event was, “What if we have lots of drones in the sky and they start crashing into each other?”
“Not possible,” answers a company spokesperson. “There are safeguards in place and competing drone delivery operators are not allowed to fly in the same area.”
Local man, Albert Cruise, told rte.ie, he was looking forward to seeing drones in the sky. “It’ll be nice to watch them because I remember the first little airplane that landed in Lusk in a field at the back of my house over 65 years ago.”
Wing chose Lusk (a population of 8,000) as the location for its first Irish test flights because it is a community with “a strong local spirit and growing population”, allowing the company to interact with a wide range of people.
November 17th was the big day when the actual trial began. As part of an initial promotion, the community is being asked to test the service with offers of free selected items. Just sign up to this ‘sweetener’ via the Wing App and a drone will arrive carrying a gift package.
However, unlike its commercial drone deliveries in the US, Finland and Australia, where products can be flown to your home and gently dropped in to backyards or on front lawns, it is limiting deliveries in Lusk to just three spots in the Chapel Farm Park area. The drones take off from an industrial facility 2km outside of the town.
For now, locals can only order a free surprise gift pack, three days per week, during designated hours. Delivery normally takes between five and ten minutes from the order being placed. The drones fly at an altitude of 50 to 100 metres at a speed of around 100kph.
It is what the trade might call “a soft launch.”
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(News Source: www.standard.co.uk)
(top image: Wing)
