A Chinese online retailer will use drones as couriers. The planes will carry consumer goods to remote areas and farm produce to cities.
JD.com is China’s biggest online retailer and operates its own nationwide network of thousands of delivery stations manned by 65,000 employees. The company has 235 million regular customers. The company’s first-quarter revenue rose 41.2 per cent over a year ago. Based in Beijing, JD.com made its first deliveries to customers using smaller drones in November. Its planned drone delivery network would cover a 300-kilometer radius and have drone air bases.
Other e-commerce brands including Amazon also are experimenting with drones for delivery.
China is home to the world’s biggest manufacturer of civilian drones, DJI. Drones are part of the industry’s response to the challenge of expanding to rural areas where distances and delivery costs rise. However drone delivery in China and other countries faces hurdles including airspace restrictions and the need to avoid collisions with birds and other obstacles. In the United States, regulators allow commercial drone flights only on an experimental basis.
A one ton payload is heavier than what most drones available now can carry, though some can carry hundreds of kilograms and major drone makers are working on devices able to carry more.
