Wingcopter extends drone delivery trial to isolated German villages

German UAV craft manufacturer and transport company Wingcopter has announced the extension and expansion of its delivery project providing groceries to small, remote villages using drones and e-bikes.

After initially being revealed in September 2022 and launched just over a year later, the LieferMichel pilot project is now being extended until at least the end of March. In addition, Wingcopter says the range of products that can be ordered and delivered by drone to isolated villages in the Michelstadt area will include non-prescription medical supplies that locals have explicitly requested in their ongoing feedback.

That enlargement means villagers who’d usually have to drive long distances to reach larger supermarkets and pharmacies will be able to continue having their supplies flown in by drone throughout the winter. That will also permit Wingcopter to operate, monitor, and draw insights from aerial delivery services in the cold and frequently snowy conditions of those extra months.

Joined by Germany’s Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport and the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, Wingcopter has been orchestrating the drone delivery of orders made by residents of the Michelstadt district from a special site run by a large retail group. UAVs touch down in landing spots near villages, where packages are offloaded for last-mile transport by e-bike.

According to Wingcopter, the drones have already covered 2,000 kilometers in delivery runs thus far.

Ansgar Kadura, the startup’s chief services officer, says the addition of medical supplies to the array of products offered and transported under the project dovetails with work the company has done with German healthcare clients, as well as humanitarian groups in Africa.

“Delivering medicines is part of our DNA at Wingcopter,” Kadura says. “In many projects to date, we have delivered medicines to hospitals and collected laboratory samples from there. Now, for the first time, we are delivering medicines directly to the end customer. This is an exciting learning experience and an important milestone in this project.”