DDC’s Sparrow drone to deliver healthcare related cargo for Canadian arm of transport and logistics company

June 23, 2020 | AUVSI News

With help from its sales agent Air Canada, Drone Delivery Canada (DDC) 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 A/S.

Through the agreement, DSV will use DDC’s Sparrow cargo drone to deliver healthcare related cargo from its warehouse in Milton, Ontario to DSV customers locally. 

“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,” says Michael Zahra, president & CEO of DDC. 

“It’s very fulfilling to DDC to provide DSV a solution to help deliver important healthcare related cargo given the current situation.”

Once the Sparrow reaches its destination, the UAS will hover at a lowered altitude and drop untethered cargo in a designated area shared by multiple DSV transactional customers before returning to DSV’s DroneSpot. The drone will be equipped with the cargo drop capability that DDC announced earlier this month.

The route is approximately 3.5 kilometers. DDC will remotely monitor the flights from its Operations Control Centre located in Vaughan, Ontario. DDC will begin implementing the solution during the third quarter of this year, and the drone delivery services under the agreement are expected to begin during that same quarter. DDC notes that there is potential for more routes to be added this year as well.

All operations will be conducted in accordance with the Canadian Aviation Regulations and Transport Canada flight authorizations. The term of the Agreement is three months.

“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,” explains Martin Roos, managing director of DSV Air & Sea Canada.

“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.”