Canada’s first drone delivery operation from within an airport has taken off from Edmonton Airport (EIA), marking a major step forward for the modernisation of supply chains.
The Sparrow drone from Drone Delivery Canada (DDC), for which Air Canada Cargo is the official agent, flew from the airport’s Operations Facility to a site in Leduc County and is the first time this activity has been approved by NAV Canada. It is expected that the Sparrow drone will soon be carrying commercial cargo packages on behalf of clients Ziing Final Mile and Apple Express.
With airspace around all Canadian airports highly restricted, any drone activity is forbidden without proper authorisation. The approval from NAV Canada follows months of EIA and DDC working alongside the Canadian ANSP to create approvals and safety procedures to make this and future drone operations possible.
“At EIA our mandate is to support economic growth and diversification in the Edmonton Metropolitan Region. Our national leadership in integrating drone technologies at an airport is giving birth to a new sector in drone logistics,” said Myron Keen, VP, Air Service and Business Development at Edmonton Airport.
“The integration of these sustainable technologies is the precursor to the enablement of advanced air mobility, and it lowers barriers for the movement of goods and in the future, people.”
DDC’s President and CEO, Michael Zahra, added:”We are entering a unique time in transportation history as we move towards a future that suggests an entirely new landscape of opportunities for the global supply chain.”
To ensure public safety, some of the restrictions on the drone flights include that it cannot fly over populated areas, and its flying height is limited. As the project continues to be tested and further safety requirements are met, the goal is to conduct longer flights that can become delivery flight paths.
