The economics of the delivery drone. Is it sustainable?

There's a lot of debate around the economic suitability of drones for the delivery of the goods as a direct competitor to traditional trucks and delivery vans.

There's an article written by Flexport which highlights two crucial factors that makes drones delivery of general goods not feasible, even in the near future: (1) route density and (2) drop size. Route density is the number of drop-offs you can make on a delivery route and drop-size is the number of parcels per stop on that delivery route.

Given the strict airspace regulations on drone size and weight, it has become quite evident, particularly in the African context, that the delivery of general goods will not be an economically viable option even though the obvious need might say otherwise. 

However, further analysis and demonstration have shown, from companies like Matternet and others, that the transport of the time-sensitive and high-value parcels (legal-documents, medicine samples, high-value spices, special equipment, etc) can be a viable business in relation to the alternative methods. Given the lack of roads, telecommunications within many African countries, such parcels have attracted a lot of interest.

So the question lies, what type of drone solutions will satisfy customer appetite for trusting drones with their time-sensitive item (especially since they have no control on its route) and yet be accessible enough to conform to airspace regulations?

A question still doesn't have an answer. That's why we're keen on researching it.

Until next time.

Paulin