Last month, The Drive reported on Yariv Bash’s Israel drone delivery company, Flytrex, and its ambition of becoming the world’s first autonomous drone delivery system. The goal is for the Flytrex name to hold the kind of status in the minds of consumers that FedEx does, at least when it comes to questions regarding drone delivery. It was only a month ago that Flytrex was successfully running pilot programs alongside the Ukrainian postal service to prepare its autonomous system for full-scale implementation; now, it’s moved on to officially delivering food.
According to Flytrex’s press release, the company has officially begun launching food deliveries via drone in the Icelandic capital of Reykjavík. Flytrex partnered with Aha, which is the go-to online marketplace for the country (think Amazon, but Icelandic), in order to bring the potential success of this to the highest domestic scale possible. The partnership claims to be “the world’s first operational on-demand urban drone delivery service.”
In July, it was clear that Bash wanted to take over the drone delivery world by storm. The benefits are clear: cutting delivery times, decreasing energy consumption, and systematically scheduling the most efficient routes.
As CEO and co-founder of Flytrex, Bash is already looking at the even bigger picture ahead. “We’re making delivery as instant as ordering. We’re excited to be working with AHA to make on-demand drone delivery a reality in Reykjavik, and soon around the world. Drone-based disruption is only taking off, with Iceland as its runway,” he said in a press release.
First, of course, Flytrex had to find a city and a government to open its proverbial doors to them. Ultimately, the Icelandic Transport Authority (ITA) was as welcoming and agreeable. The press release tells us that the ITA approved Flytrex and Aha to use the autonomous drone delivery system and service in a particular, designated area of the capital city; specifically, across a large bay that was otherwise forcing traditional delivery methods to expend vast amounts of energy by moving around it (instead of above it).
The two companies claim that they’re viewing this as a trial period, after which they intend on expanding the number of routes, delivering actual packages, and even reaching the backyards of their consumers for maximum convenience. Aha, is of course, extremely happy that their business is being maximized with Flytrex’s help. “We have seen a tremendous increase in our online delivery orders in recent months, especially our retailers’ products, and we expect to see this growth continue in the coming months as consumers experience the much faster delivery times Flytrex drone delivery offers,” says Maron Kristófersson, CEO of Aha.
Kristófersson adds that Aha has “been monitoring online logistic technologies around the globe, and Flytrex soared above all the others with its swift, smart, safe, and commercially viable solution. The partnership with Flytrex will further propel AHA’s turn-key software, sales and business processes for operating a multi-merchant e-commerce marketplace. We hope to Partner with Flytrex not only in Iceland, but also as part of our marketplace solution overseas.”