MIDDLE
DISTANCE
TRANSPORTATION
Day of
the drone
Forget last-mile: it’s all about the middle-distance requirement,
reckons David Smith.
When American Airlines’ top brass announced the results
for the first quarter in April, the mood was less upbeat
than a 1.8% increase in revenue might suggest. Much
of this was because of the grounding of the carrier’s B737 MAX
aircraft, which is expected to cause a US$350m dent in the
carrier’s pre-tax earnings; but cargo results did not offer much
cause for joy either, having declined 4% from the first three
months of 2018.
There is a lot of hype about deploying drones for lastmile
deliveries, especially as Amazon is one of the companies
developing the technology. But the logistical and regulatory
hurdles of making last-mile deliveries in densely populated cities
have persuaded several innovative manufacturers to develop
drones for middle-mile distances, those of up to 2,500 kilometres.
These companies range in size from the Bulgarian start-up
Dronamics to the corporate giant Boeing. Their argument goes
that drones are perfectly designed to transport cargo to remote
areas in a cost-efficient and environmentally friendly way.
Dronamics CEO Svilen Rangelov is focused on the sector.
“The cargo industry is normally slow to change. It’s the type of
industry that’s using 40 year old planes and goes for reliability and
ease of use. But I think drones will have a revolutionary impact
on the middle-mile cargo supply chains within a few years. The
technology is already accurate enough to make it a reality and it’s
just the regulatory hurdles that are holding it back.”
Different strategies
The middle-distance drone companies are all building aircraft
that fly independently, but they have different strategies.
Dronamics’ Black Swan drones are petrol-powered and can carry
up to 350 kilogrammes of cargo, whereas the similarly sized
Boeing cargo air vehicles (or CAVs) are fuelled by electricity. Then
there are the start-ups developing much larger aircraft, such as
China’s Sichuan Tengden
Technology, whose drone is
capable of carrying 20 tonnes.
The US start-up, Natilus, is
building another large drone
with a 90 tonne capacity, but
its prototype is amphibious
and will land on the sea near
coastal ports.
As well as working to
develop their technologies,
the drone manufacturers are
having to spend a lot of time
in discussion with regulators
worldwide. Rangelov says that
every country has independent
drone regulations, although
there is a common desire to
develop international rules
that facilitate cross-border
flights. He expects rapid
progress and predicts that
within ten years around
four-fifths of cargo will be
transported by unmanned
vehicles.
“The current system is not
cost-efficient for remoter areas.
It’s too reliant on transporting
cargo via airlines to large
hubs in capital cities. Here
in Bulgaria, the cargo lands
at Sofia airport then it has to
be trucked throughout the
country. In most countries,
domestic flights are rare and
it’s costly and inefficient to
reach remoter areas. In Africa,
Asia and Latin America,
there are road journeys of
more than 1,000 kilometres
in challenging conditions,”
Rangelov reveals.
In contrast, middle-distance
drones will allow shippers to
respond more flexibly to the
market. “The cost advantages
are significant over huge
freighters because we can
respond quickly to fluctuations
in demand. We can send six
Black Swan flights today, and
then eight tomorrow, which
is just a 700 kilogramme
difference for us. It’s perfect
for e-commerce and smaller
parcels, such as flowers,
pharmaceuticals, agricultural
products and healthcare
supplies. We have also created
a specialised box that fits the
38 August 2019 www.airlogisticsinternational.com
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