Winged drones will only be allowed to fly 11-12 hours a day and they must be piloted, rather than fully automated.
A
Google-linked
firm will start delivering takeaways and other small items to
Canberra residents after the company received approval from aviation
watchdogs in Australia on Tuesday.
Drone
company "Wing" -- an offshoot of Google's parent company
Alphabet -- has been trialling deliveries for the last 18 months, but
will now be able to go ahead full time.
"We
have approved Wing Aviation Pty Ltd to operate ongoing delivery
drone operations in North Canberra," the Civil Aviation
Safety Authority said on Tuesday.
The
company said it had been delivering "food and drinks,
over-the-counter chemist items, and locally-made coffee and
chocolate".
About
3,000 deliveries were made, allowing regulators to judge the project
was safe, leading to the first commercial approval in Australia and
one of the first anywhere in the world.
Winged
drones will only be allowed to fly 11-12 hours a day and they must be
piloted, rather than fully automated.
The
initial area of operations is only about 100 homes, but that is
expected to expand quickly.
The
regulator did not look at the noise or privacy impact of the project
-- two issues that emerged during trials.
Wing
argues that drone deliveries reduce traffic and pollution and are
quick -- being completed in six-10 minutes.
A
customer uses an app to order the product, which is loaded onto a
drone.
The
drone hovers above its destination, lowering the goods down on a
winch-like cable before flying away.
In
the United States UPS last month launched that country's first
authorised use of unmanned drones to transport packages to
recipients.
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