A drone from Skye Air Mobility on Tuesday covered an aerial distance of 104 km in West Bengal to deliver a medicine consignment of Flipkart Health, the longest commercial delivery using an unmanned vehicle in the state, a company statement said on Tuesday.
The drone took off from Flipkart's Baruipur hub in South 24 Parganas and delivered medicines at the Healthbuddy Matangini in the state’s Purba Medinipur district, it said.
The distance between the two places is 185 km by road, and it takes about four-five hours to cover the distance by surface transport.
"This delivery may be a turning point for the entire logistics industry and will help discover intelligent solutions to supply chain problems," the statement said.
Flipkart Health+, a pharma business division of the e-commerce platform, partnered with Skye Air Mobility, which has so far conducted more than 2,000 commercial deliveries in sectors such as healthcare, quick-commerce and agriculture commodities across various locations.
"We are working on cutting-edge technologies to enhance the supply chain process, reduce the time taken to deliver, and widen the reach in the remotest parts of India. Drones can be effective in indoor and outdoor environments, and we are building a framework to unlock their potential," Flipkart Health+ chief technology and product officer Pranav Saxena said.
'Drone delivery' firm Skye Air Mobility is committed to make UAV deliveries a mainstream logistics solution for the healthcare, e-commerce and quick commerce industries, its CEO Ankit Kumar said.