Royal Mail trials drone deliveries in Argyll and Bute

Royal Mail is trialling the use of drones to deliver mail between two remote Scottish islands, in collaboration with Skyports and Argyll and Bute Council

For the first time, postal workers will loading and unloading mail for the drone flights between the remote isles of Islay and Jura in the Inner Hebrides.

The multirotor drone can carry payloads of up to 6kg and will be transporting mail that is usually taken via ferry in a Royal Mail van.

It is the same drone used in Royal Mail’s previous trial in Orkney.

Chris Paxton, Royal Mail’s head of drones, said: “This drone trial - Royal Mail’s sixth - is the latest step in our innovative collaboration with Skyports.”

He explained: “Trialling drones allows us to test out new ways of working to support our posties in delivering to the most remote areas of the UK.

“As parcel volumes increase, we are continually looking for new ways to provide a reliable, fast and lower emission service to all our customers no matter where they live.”

This is the second trial using Extended Visual Line of Sight (EVLOS) flying, which allows drones to travel further than the standard Visual Line of Sight by making use of ‘trained observers’ along its route.

These observers keep the pilot, who is flying the drone remotely, updated on critical information to ensure the drone maintains a safe distance from other air users, structures and any hazards.

The weather and geography of the Inner Hebrides can impact the ability to provide an uninterrupted delivery service.

For example, pauses in the ferry schedule - by which some mail is transported - are common during poor weather due to the challenges of docking safely.

The trial, which will run until July 26, is being run in collaboration with drone specialists Skyports and Argyll and Bute Council to operate a number of essential services in Islay and Jura, including Royal Mail deliveries.

Alex Brown, director of Skyports Drone Services, said: “Argyll and Bute has been an important region for our UK flight trial and demonstration work over the years.

“With its coastal and island geography, drone services can significantly improve connectivity and bring substantial time savings for essential services such as medical logistics.

“We’re pleased to conduct more flights in the region with the Royal Mail and Argyll and Bute Council thanks to the Regulators’ Pioneer Fund.”

In November 2022, the UK Government awarded Argyll and Bute Council a grant of £250,000 via the Regulators’ Pioneer Fund (RPF) to work in partnership with Skyports to conduct a series of trials that will serve as a building block to showcase the potential of drones in enhancing vital public services.

This collaborative effort aims to demonstrate how these organisations can improve the safety, efficiency and sustainability of their operations and better serve customers by implementing electric drone services.

Sir Patrick Vallance, Minister of State for Science, said: “Our funding for these 15 pioneering projects – from drone deliveries for remote communities to using AI in healthcare – will give UK regulators and local authorities the support they need to accelerate innovation and turn it into success in every corner of the country. 

“With our help, innovators working on these projects can experiment with technologies that will transform vital public services.”

In 2020, Royal Mail became the first UK parcel carrier to use a drone to deliver a parcel. The company worked with a consortium of drone companies, including Skyports, to deliver to a remote lighthouse on the Isle of Mull using a drone.

Royal Mail and its partners achieved two further ‘firsts’ in 2021, becoming the first UK parcel carrier to deliver mail to a UK island via an out-of-sight autonomous drone flight and trialling the first inter-island drone flights in UK with a smaller vertical take-off and landing drone.