Deutsche Post DHL will launch soon regular drone flights to deliver emergency medicines and other goods to the North Sea island of Juist.

Described as a research project, the flight by the “DHL parcelcopter” is the first time in Europe that a flight by an unmanned aircraft will be operated outside a pilot’s field of vision in a real-life mission, the postal and logistics services group said.

A restricted flight area exclusively for the project has been agreed on after consultations with German federal and local officials. The flights for Juist will take off from the harbor in Norddeich.

Amazon.com and Google have said that they plan to use drones for the delivery of goods, but the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has as yet to frame rules for the operation of commercial unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). The use of very small model aircraft for recreational purposes is allowed under certain conditions, including the requirement that it stays visible to the hobbyist at all times during flight.

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

…