To deliver 3 kg (20–30 bundles) of medications per flight to Flipkart Health’s partner pharmacies in Kolkata, the e-commerce giant Flipkart’s healthcare business performed a 15-day drone delivery test in partnership with Skye Air Mobility.
Ankit Kumar, CEO of Skye Air, claims that one of the paths travelled by the drones in this pilot had an aerial distance of 104 kilometres, making it the longest BVLoS (Beyond Visual Line of Sight > 100 kilometres) delivery route in the world with a drone-covered remote landing. The 185-kilometer drive, which takes about 5 hours, from the Flipkart centre in Baruipur to the Healthbuddy Matangini (pharmacy) in Medinipur. Thanks to drone delivery, Flipkart was capable of covering this distance in one hour. The drone delivery would have lowered Flipkart Health’s logistical expenses by 20–30%, according to Kumar.
