Using drones to deliver mail on islands ‘definitely worth exploring’

The use of drones to deliver the post is “definitely worth exploring”, the Royal Mail’s operations development director has told MSPs.

Ricky McAulay said the service has already carried out initial trials involving drones on some islands around Scotland and on the Isles of Scilly.

While he said drones could be a “more reliable” way of getting letters and parcels to the islands in poor weather, he added that changes are needed to legislation before their use can become more widespread.

Ross Hutchison, Royal Mail’s operations director for Scotland, said the service currently delivers to “about 150 populated islands in Scotland”.

Some of these are “extremely remote with small populations”, he added, saying drones could be ideal for deliveries “if we could make it work”.

McAulay told Holyrood’s Economy and Fair Work Committee on Wednesday: “What we do know is in terms of reliability, they [drones] are more reliable in inclement weather.”

He added the number of items that can be carried by drones is “increasingly getting larger”, although he also stressed: “At the moment, all of the legislation that is required to fly drones out of sight and remotely is not in place.”

McAulay said Royal Mail has been lobbying the Civil Aviation Authority on the issue, so the service can consider if using drones can be “truly a scalable solution” instead of sending mail by aircraft or other means.

Asked by Conservative MSP Graham Simpson how the trials have gone and if the use of drones is “a goer”, McAulay said it is “too early to say for sure”.

He added: “I think we need the entry point, the price point, to come down a bit in terms of the level of investment required to operate.

“We do need change from the Civil Aviation Authority in terms of the ability to fly drones over the kind of distances we are talking about.

“What we have done so far is controlled trials, there is broader legislation change required if it is to be a scalable solution, but it is definitely worth exploring.”

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