Industry | Drone delivery |
---|---|
Genre | Delivery drone |
Founded | 2018 |
Founder | Duncan Walker & Simon Morrish |
Headquarters | London , England |
Area served | Ireland, Scotland, United States, Singapore |
Website | skyportsdroneservices |
Skyports Drone Services is a British provider and operator of eVTOL drones for cargo delivery, survey and monitoring. [1] The company became famous for using drones to carry Covid-19 samples and test kits in some parts of Argyll and Bute which has been described as a UK first. [2] It also received UK Government funding for establishing service and training facility at Argyll and Bute Council-owned Oban Airport. [3]
The company was founded in 2018 by Duncan Walker & Simon Morrish. [4] It is headquartered in London with additional offices located in Singapore, Dubai, Columbia and Japan. [5]
In 2020 Skyports Drone Services was authorised by the Scottish government to carry Covid-19 kits from Mull, Clachan-Seil and Lochgilphead to Lorn and Islands Hospital in Oban. [6] It was jointly funded by the UK Space Agency and the European Space Agency. [7]
The Royal Mail partnered with it to launch a postal service using drones in Scotland. [8] In 2023, they announced a Hub Operator Program for participants in Colombia, UAE, the UK, Kenya, and Korea. [9]
The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) have issued the light UAS (Unmanned Aircraft Systems) operator certificate (LUC) to Skyports Drone Services and recognised across all 31 EASA member countries. [14] It received Part 107 Waiver to fly UAS BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line Of Sight) [15] and Part 375 Foreign Aircraft Permit in the USA. [16]
In Singapore, it has received Class 1 Activity Permit for UAS Operations and UA Operator Permit (UOP) to fly BVLOS from the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore. [17]
Royal Mail and Skyports Drone Services announced the launch of the Orkney I-Port operation, a drone delivery project established in partnership with Orkney Islands Council Harbour Authority and Loganair.
Royal Mail and Skyports Drone Services have established a daily inter-island mail distribution service between three islands on Orkney. The project will initially operate for three months, with the intent to extend in the future. This is the first UK drone delivery project which can be conducted on a permanent basis under existing regulatory frameworks. [18]
Recently, Skyports Drone Services announced Speedbird Aero as new aircraft partner for the Orkney I-Port operation, a drone delivery project established in partnership with Royal Mail, Orkney Islands Council Harbour Authority and Loganair. Speedbird Aero has been selected as the latest aircraft partner to join Skyports Drone Services’ world-class drone fleet. The Brazilian drone manufacturer will provide its DLV-2 aircraft for Skyports Drone Services’ global delivery and logistics projects, starting with three months of inter-island delivery flights for Royal Mail for the Orkney I-Port project. [19]
Argyll and Bute is one of 32 unitary council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod. The administrative centre for the council area is in Lochgilphead at Kilmory Castle, a 19th-century Gothic Revival building and estate. The current council leader is Robin Currie, a councillor for Kintyre and the Islands.
Stornoway Airport is an airfield located 2 NM east of the town of Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis, in Scotland. The airfield was opened in 1937, and was then used mainly for military purposes. The Royal Air Force had an air base there during the Second World War and also from 1972 until 1998, when it was a NATO forward operating base. During the Cold War, from 1960 to 1983, the airfield was the home of 112 Signals Unit Stornoway (RAF). NATO aircraft used the airport for missions over the North Atlantic and for stopovers en route to Greenland and the United States.
Campbeltown Airport is located at Machrihanish, 3 nautical miles west of Campbeltown, near the tip of the Kintyre peninsula in Argyll and Bute on the west coast of Scotland.
Loganair is a Scottish airline based at Glasgow Airport near Paisley, Scotland. Branded as Scotland's Airline, it is the largest regional airline in the UK by passenger numbers and fleet size.
Dundee Airport is located 3 km (1.9 mi) from the centre of Dundee, Scotland. It lies on the shore of the Firth of Tay and overlooks the Tay Rail Bridge.
Highland Airways was an airline based in Inverness, Scotland. It ceased trading on 24 March 2010 after failing to secure new investment. The airline operated passenger and freight charters as well as scheduled services from its main base at Inverness Airport. Other services included newspaper distribution to the northern and Western Isles and, until recently, charter services for corporate clients. Highland Airways was under talks for a buyout by Perth-based, Air Charter Scotland. Aircraft were also based at Cardiff Airport.
Sumburgh Airport is the main airport serving Shetland in Scotland. It is located on the southern tip of the mainland, in the parish of Dunrossness, 17 NM south of Lerwick. The airport is owned by Highlands and Islands Airports Limited (HIAL) and served by Loganair.
Kirkwall Airport is the main airport serving Orkney in Scotland. It is located 2.5 NM southeast of Kirkwall and is owned by Highlands and Islands Airports Limited. The airport is used by Loganair.
Oban Airport is located 5 nautical miles northeast of Oban, near the village of North Connel, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. Operated by Argyll and Bute council, it has a CAA licence as a commercial airport following recent upgrading. Currently Hebridean Air Services is the only airline based at Oban. It operates scheduled flights on two routes, to the Isles of Colonsay and Islay return and to the Isles of Coll and Tiree return.
The Elbit Hermes 450 is an Israeli medium-sized multi-payload unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) designed for tactical long endurance missions. It has an endurance of over 20 hours, with a primary mission of reconnaissance, surveillance and communications relay. Payload options include electro-optical/infrared sensors, communications and electronic intelligence, synthetic-aperture radar/ground-moving target indication, electronic warfare, and hyperspectral sensors.
Loch Lomond Seaplanes is an airline based in Scotland. After receiving approval from the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority and Clydeport to launch services from Glasgow Seaplane Terminal, by Glasgow's Science Centre on the River Clyde in Glasgow city centre its maiden scheduled service from Glasgow to Oban began in August 2007, making it Europe's first city centre seaplane service It is Scotland and the United Kingdom's first commercial seaplane service Loch Lomond Seaplanes Ltd holds a United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority Type B Operating Licence, it is permitted to carry passengers, cargo and mail on aircraft with fewer than 20 seats and/or weighing less than 10 tonnes. It also has a base outside the hotel Cameron House, Loch Lomond, hence the operator's name. Their aircraft have featured on British television several times, including on BBC's Countryfile, ITV's Emmerdale and NBC's Running Wild starring Bear Grylls and Ben Stiller
Oban is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William. During the tourist season, the town can have a temporary population of up to over 24,000 people. Oban occupies a setting in the Firth of Lorn. The bay forms a near perfect horseshoe, protected by the island of Kerrera; and beyond Kerrera, the Isle of Mull. To the north, is the long low island of Lismore and the mountains of Morvern and Ardgour.
Hebridean Air Services is a small Scottish airline based in northern Scotland owned by Airtask Group Ltd. The airline flies charter, scenic, aerial photography and scheduled flights.
A delivery drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) used to transport packages that include medical supplies, food, or other goods. Given their life-saving potential, use cases for medical supplies in particular have become the most widely-tested type of drone delivery, with trials and pilot projects in dozens of countries such as Australia, Canada, Botswana, Ghana, Uganda, the UK, the US among others. Delivery drones are typically autonomous and electric, sometimes also operated as a part of a fleet.
The Loganair Westray to Papa Westray route is the shortest scheduled passenger flight in the world. Flights on the route are scheduled for one and a half minutes, and actual flying time is closer to one minute. The record for the fastest flight is 53 seconds. The route is flown by Loganair, a Scottish regional airline that serves Scotland's Highlands and islands. It is also part of a connector flight that links the island of Westray and the town of Kirkwall, the central and most populous town of the Orkney Islands.
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