Skye Air partners with Flipkart Health to drone deliver medicines in Kolkata
- ByStartupStory | August 17, 2022
Flipkart Health will launch a new pilot with drone startup Skye Air to assess the practicality of drone-based medical deliveries in Kolkata. 20 flights per day, carrying an average payload of 5 kilos, will be made during the pilot’s run, which will go until September 8
A hub-and-spoke delivery system will be used in the experiment to transport medical goods from Flipkart’s warehouses to its over-the-counter locations around the city. The Skye One drone, which can cover 20 kilometres in 30 minutes, will be utilised. Skye Air asserts that it has flown more than 1,200 trips using it.
Additionally, Skye Air will test its brand-new BVLOS (beyond visual line of sight) drone, Artemis, for drone deliveries. It was introduced in May and has a maximum speed of 100 kph for a duration of 90 minutes while carrying a weight of 6 kg.
While COVID has seen an increase in drone delivery pilots and collaborations, the government accepted this new reality earlier this month when it said it would not obstruct such testing. In the last year, Skye Air has launched similar pilots with Swiggy and Curefoods, and on August 15, Redwing Aerospace announced a medical delivery pilot in Arunachal Pradesh. Redwing will transport prescription drugs and diagnostic test samples to and from the far-flung town of Seppa, which is often rather challenging to get to.
About Skye Air
Chandra Prakash and Swapnik Jakkampudi started Skye Air in the year 2019. It is participating in numerous BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line of Sight) experiments. It has been conducting BVLOS trials for healthcare delivery in Telangana and Karnataka. Their current areas of specialisation include food, e-commerce, relief, and healthcare logistics.
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