UK-based Dronamics, maker of a long-range cargo drone that can carry up to 770 lbs. of payload, is expanding its network by adding two new “droneport” locations at airports in Germany and Denmark, creating a total of 42 locations in 14 European cities.
The company is targeting a variety of industries, including retail and ecommerce, manufacturing, automotive, healthcare and pharmaceutical and perishable groceries. The first commercial flights of its autonomous Black Swan cargo drone are scheduled for this summer in Europe.
Dronamics’ CEO Svilen Rangelov said the while the focus at launch is on Europe and Asia-Pacific, there are plan for the U.S. and North America down the road. Rangelov said the company’s launch partners are DHL and Hellmann Worldwide Logistics, the latter based in Germany.
“With Hellmann, we’re developing a network for shipping time-critical goods in Europe,” he said. “With DHL we are developing a network for shipping within the APAC region. End customers are not disclosed at this time.”
The partnership with DHL is estimated to require Dronamics to build and operate more than 4,000 cargo drones in the coming years, which Rangelov said could bring in €1.86 billion in annual revenue alone.
“Our solution is intended to serve end customers in ecommerce where the expectations for next-day delivery are most apparent, especially those in communities that are currently underserved by big delivery networks,” he said. “Our business model is to sell capacity on the networks we develop. With the Black Swan aircraft, we’re able to offer a same-day delivery service for shipping between locations.”
The 26-foot-long Black Swan, with a wingspan of 52 feet, has a range of 1,550 miles and a cruising speed of 125 mph at 22,000 feet. It can land on short and unpaved runways, enabling on-demand point-to-point flights and same-day delivery even to remote locations. A run from its base in Liege, Belgium can reach Helsinki, Finland in eight hours. Dronamics claims the cost is half that of commercial airfreight.
Dronamics has attracted top talent such as Atanas Gagov, Director of Engineering and Project Management, who came over from Alphabet autonomous vehicle venture Waymo, and Andy Cox, its Director of Systems and Avionics who in 2014 set up and led the Facebook UAV team and was part of founder Mark Zuckerberg’s connectivity brain trust.