Airbus unit, CAAS to trial using drones for parcel delivery

Airbus Helicopters, a division of Airbus, and the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to conduct Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) trials in Singapore.

The agreement, signed at the sidelines of the Singapore Air Show on Wednesday (Feb 17), will see the two parties collaborating on the Skyways Experimentation Project, which aims to develop an airborne infrastructure solution to address the sustainability and efficiency of parcel delivery business in large urban environments.

This will be carried out in two phases. Airbus Helicopters has begun work with the National University of Singapore (NUS) on the planning and development of the first phase, which entails the establishment of a parcel stations network on NUS campus, both parties said.

The network will enable users to send important and urgent items such as documents via a drone to other parts of the campus and will serve as a supply and distribution platform for suppliers across Singapore to deliver their goods to customers across the NUS campus, they said.

The second phase, which may be carried out if the first trial is successful, will cover the delivery of goods such as urgent medicine, oil samples and spare electronic parts from a parcel station located at the Singapore coast to ships anchored at bay, according to the press release.