Google Now Owns The Largest Residential Drone Delivery Service In The World – Forbes

Google's Wing drone, with a package for delivery.

Googles drone delivery service will complete 100,000 deliveries this weekend, the company says, and is growing fast: 500% last year, and more deliveries in the first quarter of 2021 than in all of 2020 combined. Thats probably just the beginning, because Google says it is expanding this year, including in the United States.

Just one of its delivery operations, in Queensland, Australia, is the largest residential drone delivery service in the world, according to Google.

There, Google Wings completed deliveries have included:

Wings drones are a sort of hybrid drone/fixed wing aircraft that cruise at about 45 meters (100 feet). They carry small packages: up to about 1.2 kilograms or just under 3 pounds, and deliver within about a six-mile radius, with delivery in under six minutes. (90% of last-mile deliveries are under five pounds, the company says.) The drones dont actually land; they descend to around seven meters or 23 feet, then lower and release the package automatically.

Whats completely obvious from looking at that shortlist of some of Google Wings deliveries is that drone delivery is a complete game-changer.

Same-day or next day service might have been revolutionary five years ago, and its still pretty good for books or printer ink or toilet paper. But next-few-minutes delivery breaks the historical model of what delivery is and can do, allowing people get near-instant access to quickly-perishable items. Coffee, for instance, had better be delivered basically immediately, or it simply will not be consumable. Manna, a drone delivery service in Ireland that is poised to expand in the EU soon, is also delivering extreme perishables: coffee, ice cream, burgers, fries.

In other words, drone delivery is custom-built to supercharge the on-demand economy.

Something else thats obvious? When people can get what they want instantly, they like it. A lot.

Not only did Google Wing ramp service 500% last year and double that in a single quarter, the company says that August which is not yet over has been another record month. And a Virginia Tech study in Googles first drone delivery region in the U.S., in Christiansburg, Virginia, found that 90% of those who were exposed to the service liked it and supported it.

I asked the companys head of communications, Jonathan Bass, for a few more details.

John Koetsier: What makes Wing different from competing drone delivery companies?

Bass: Wing is operating live, automated drone delivery services in Australia, Finland and the U.S, and making thousands of deliveries each week to customers, on-demand. Our operation in Queensland, Australia is the largest residential drone delivery service in the world, available daily to 19 suburbs with a population of 110,000 people. Weve made nearly 100,000 deliveries to customers on demand, on top of hundreds of thousands of additional test flights. These deliveries have primarily been made directly to homes, but also to offices and apartment buildings, and weve even offered delivered to customers on-demand in public parks.

Wing has built a drone delivery platform not to deliver our own stuff, but to deliver everyone elses. Our aircraft is lightweight, we require very little space to operate and flight systems are highly automatedits easy for a wide range of businesses to set up and use nearly anywhere at a fraction of the cost of ground delivery.

John Koetsier: You're accelerating growth. When do you see this becoming available for most people in the US?

Bass: Were still in the early days of drone delivery, but things are starting to move quickly. Deliveries grew over 500% from 2019 to 2020, then we made more deliveries in the second quarter of this year than in all of 2020, and now August has been another record month. We have plans to expand this year within the U.S., and look forward to sharing more specifics soon. One reason we feel so positive about the future of drone delivery is because of the feedback were receiving from the people who are actually able to access it.

Just recently, Virginia Tech did a study of residents in Christiansburg, Virginia where Wing launched the first commercial drone delivery service to homes in the U.S. and found nearly 90% support for drone delivery. This is vastly higher than prior studies of people who had not had the opportunity to see drone delivery up close. To us, thats a strong proof point that when the service is available, people find it incredibly useful. In the end, that positive sentiment around drone delivery is what will power its expansion.

John Koetsier: Is the US regulatory environment a challenge? What needs to change?

Bass: Each country has its own regulatory approval process. Weve conducted hundreds of thousands of test flights, and were operating high volume operations in urban and suburban environments, and weve had extremely positive responses from the communities we serve. That being said, progress in the US has been slower than we would have hoped relative to other countries that we operate in, such as Australia. However, were optimistic that our permissions to operate in the U.S. will expand to more closely resemble our permissions in other parts of the world in the coming months. Safety continues to be a top prioritywere closing in on half a million flights without incidentand the bottom line is that every delivery that is conducted by a 10 lb drone like Wing's aircraft, and not a car or truck, makes US communities safer, reduces traffic congestion and emissions.

John Koetsier: Who are you partnering with in terms of retail sales? Can any business connect and start doing deliveries via you?

Bass: Our goal is to build a drone delivery platform that anyone can plug into. Currently we work with over 30 businesses around the world to deliver their goods to customers. These range from large, multinational companies like Walgreens, to grocery stores, hardware stores, to bakeries, coffee shops and other restaurants. We can deliver virtually anything under 3 lbs that fits in our custom-designed box. With nearly 90% of last-mile deliveries being made up of packages weighing under 5lbs, there is a lot of opportunity for drone delivery.

John Koetsier: What are the biggest issues to work out, still?

Bass: Expanded regulatory permission is our primary obstacle at this stageour services are capable of doing more than they are allowed to do today. One reason were so excited about our growth in Logan, Australia is because it shows that we can build a safe, scalable service that communities will embrace. There are hundreds of cities around the world just like Logan in terms of size: New Orleans; Manchester, England or Florence, Italy, just to name a few. Logans success implies a not-too-distant future in which similar high-volume drone delivery services could be replicated in cities and metro areas around the world.

John Koetsier: Thank you for your time!

Read next: Drone Delivery Is Live Today, And Its 90% Cheaper Than Car-Based Services

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Google Now Owns The Largest Residential Drone Delivery Service In The World - Forbes