Drone Delivery Canada (DDC) with the assistance of its sales agent Air Canada, has entered into a commercial agreement with DSV Air & Sea Inc. Canada (DSV), the Canadian arm of the global transport and logistics company DSV Panalpina, to deploy DDC’s drone delivery platform, with the intent for DSV to deliver healthcare-related cargo from DSV’s warehouse in Milton, Ontario to DSV customers locally.
DDC will deploy its Sparrow cargo drone, with the cargo drop capability previously announced June 10. The term of the deal is three months, full payment will be made upfront by DSV.
At the destination, the Sparrow will hover at a lowered altitude, drop untethered cargo in a designated area shared by multiple DSV transactional customers, then return to DSV’s DroneSpot. The route is approximately 3.5km. Flights will be remotely monitored by DDC from its Operations Control Centre located in Vaughan, Ontario. DDC will commence implementation of the solution in Q3 2020 and expects to begin providing drone delivery services under the Agreement in the same quarter, with the potential of more additional routes being added in 2020. All operations will be conducted in accordance with the Canadian Aviation Regulations and Transport Canada flight authorisations.
“We are currently flying hundreds of successful flights per month at DSV for their first route, and we are pleased to announce a second paid route with DSV. DSV is a global leader in the logistics space and a perfect fit as a scalable customer for us,” said Michael Zahra, president and CEO of DDC.
“DSV will use our proven Sparrow drone with the new cargo drop functionality, patented FLYTETM system, and commercial operations centre. It’s very fulfilling to DDC to provide DSV a solution to help deliver important healthcare related cargo given the current situation.”
Martin Roos, managing director of DSV Air & Sea Canada says: “During this critical time, we have helped many of our clients find new ways of delivering cargo. In order to keep goods flowing through the supply chain, innovative solutions are key to embrace. Drone delivery provides an answer to many of the challenges we’ve seen during the current situation. Our partnership with DDC and Air Canada Cargo provides the opportunity to fulfill our clients’ needs, ensuring time sensitive, critical cargo can be delivered locally with accuracy, efficiency and minimal person-to-person contact. We are excited to optimise our clients’ supply chains and are now exploring the true potential of drone innovation.”
