SingPost completes successful test flight of drone for mail delivery

SINGAPORE Post (SingPost) has collaborated with the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) to develop a drone for mail delivery.

In a statement on Thursday morning, SingPost said that "a last-mile mail and packet drone delivery trial" was successfully completed between Lorong Halus and Pulau Ubin.

The test flight took five minutes, and carried a letter as well as a T-shirt in a packet. The drone flew a total distance of two kilometres.

"This is the first time in the world a postal service has successfully used an UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) for point-to-point recipient-authenticated mail delivery," said SingPost in a press release.

Added Bernard Leong, head of Digital Services, SingPost: "There is immense potential in UAV technology for last-mile mail and e-commerce delivery. As SingPost transforms into an e-commerce logistics enabler, we will continue to collaborate with industry leaders and chart new frontiers.

"Not only do we want to enable or accelerate e-commerce, we hope to contribute towards building Singapore into a Smart Nation, where technology improves the quality of lives. We seek continuous exploration to break new ground, innovate and harness technology to bring end-to-end solutions that matter to our customers."

A video of the trial flight can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPI_ifH13Zk.