Singapore, Airbus Helicopters has selected Singapore Post (SingPost), a provider of domestic and international postal services as well as logistics services in the domestic market and global delivery services as its logistics partner for the ground-breaking Skyways parcel delivery project. The announcement was made at the inaugural Rotorcraft Asia exhibition in Singapore. The MoU was signed by Jean-Brice Dumont, Airbus Helicopters’ executive vice president of engineering and chief technical officer, and Mervyn Lim, SingPost’s Covering Group CEO.
Skyways is an experimental project to develop a secure and economically practical aerial unmanned parcel delivery system for use in urban environments. A MoU was signed in February 2016 between Airbus Helicopters and the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore to conduct the Skyways proof-of-concept trial. The research and development phase is now at an advanced stage, with an initial trial phase planned at NUS by early 2018 and will involve the transport of small packages within the university campus.
Airbus Helicopters is the overall Skyways system architect and provider, contributing its proficiencies in drone platforms and concept of future parcel delivery.
SingPost will use its expertise in software systems that control and deal with delivery networks, customer-interface systems and real-time back-end links to a delivery system. Besides, it will also contribute its knowledge of postal and eCommerce logistics trends to make certain the solutions developed will tackle the future logistics issues.
“Skyways was launched with the intent to provide highly efficient, reliable and seamless small parcel deliveries using drones in urban cities. The project has been progressing well and we welcome SingPost onboard as our logistics partner in this critical phase, as we work in tandem to develop a robust autonomous parcel delivery system that will revolutionise the logistics industry,” said Airbus Helicopters’ executive vice president of engineering and chief technical officer Jean-Brice Dumont. “A forerunner in innovation, Airbus strongly believes in improving daily lives by enhancing air mobility in urban spaces, in a safe, secure and reliable manner.”
“Drones and other autonomous vehicles are in the future of the logistics industry. The demonstrator that Airbus Helicopters and SingPost will be developing is designed to address real-world challenges such as safe and accurate flight in high rise cities, while meeting the needs of customers,” said Mervyn Lim, SingPost’s Covering Group CEO. “Our trial will involve SingPost’s parcel locker technology, and this MoU fits well into our long term plans to develop future generations of parcel delivery points that involve drones and the vertical dimension. Together with Airbus Helicopters’ technologists, SingPost’s engineers will be working to ensure the concept meets the future logistics needs of urban environments like Singapore.”
