Flytrex has joined a select few companies that have launched drone delivery services in the U.S. state of Texas.
The company joins Wing, the unmanned aerial system unit of Alphabet, that is preparing to launch its first metro drone service in Dallas, Texas, with operations located and integrated with local retail locations including Walgreens.
Flytrex’s service will be in the city of Granbury, Texas, a town outside of Dallas-Fort Worth, with drones flying food orders to residents with flight times of just five minutes. As part of the launch, Flytrex signed an agreement with Brinker International, the owner of Chili’s Grill & Bar and Maggiano’s Little Italy.
The service will be operated with Causey Aviation Unmanned under a grant from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) waiver to allow delivery of up to 1 nautical mile radius.
Flytrex said it chose to focus on suburban areas as they have been traditionally underserved by traditional couriers that are only able to make about two deliveries per hour. Using drones will allow faster and a greater quantity of deliveries in these areas.
The company launched its first fully autonomous urban drone delivery system in Reykjavik, Iceland, in 2017 and has been working with the North Carolina Department of Transportation to participate in the FAA’s BEYOND program, which recently issued its final drone beyond the visual line of sight (BVLOS) guidelines.