Wing, the drone operational arm of Alphabet, is planning to expand its operations in Europe to Lusk, Ireland, a city about 20 kilometers north of Dublin.
Wing said the goal of the program in Ireland is to gain experience of operating in the country and begin the process of learning from the local community about the types of drone delivery services that would bring them the most value.
The European Union recently released regulations for uncrewed aviation that help to form a path for safe and scalable drone deliveries. These new regulations encourage Wing to expand its operations beyond Finland, where it has been working on drone delivery projects in Helsinki.
The operations in Ireland will build on the partnerships and approvals Wing gained in Finland, which can be recognized across EASA member states and has been recognized by the Irish Aviation Authority.
A small step
Wing said this is a small step for drone delivery in Ireland and will be a different service than Wing’s other drone delivery operations in Australia, Finland and the U.S.
Wing made significant progress in drone deliveries last year, completing more than 140,000 deliveries, a 600% increase over 2020, with the majority of these flights taking place in Logan City, Australia. Since then, Wing has eclipsed the 300,000 threshold of commercial deliveries, making one delivery every 25 seconds.
Lusk, Ireland, was chosen because it is a community with a growing population and the Irish community is welcome to emerging technologies such as drone delivery.
As drone delivery technology improves, Wing said drones will be able to improve the way cities and towns operate by reducing road congestion and creating new economic opportunities for local businesses.
