Drone Delivery Canada (DDC) is extending its drone delivery work at Edmonton International Airport.

With help from Air Canada, DDC has entered multiple commercial agreements with Edmonton International Airport, Apple Express Courier, BBE Expediting and MFN Management, a wholly owned corporation of Montana First Nation, to deploy DDC’s drone delivery offerings.

The agreements, with an aggregate value of $417,000, will run for 12 months. DDC will expand the defined route delivery from the airport with an additional DroneSpot at a medical clinic in the city of Leduc, Alberta. Cargo delivery will take place from the airport to the medical clinic while maintaining the current delivery route to the off-airport DroneSpot in Leduc County, which formed the delivery route for the first phase of the project.

The medical clinic is wholly owned by Montana First Nation and provides health care services to indigenous and non-indigenous Canadians.

“MFN Management is excited to be working with Drone Delivery Canada, Air Canada, BBE Expediting, Edmonton International Airport, Apple Express and the other partners on this project,” said George Addai, general manager at MFN Management. “As a company, we are always looking for innovative and sustainable opportunities for growth. We hope to develop some services and opportunities from this project to support our corporate growth strategy.”

All operations will be conducted in accordance with applicable Canadian regulations and/or Transport Canada special approvals with flights remotely piloted by DDC from its operations control centre in Vaughan, Ontario. Additionally, the Canary RPA remotely piloted aircraft will be used on this route once operational.

“As we build out the drone delivery demand, we continue to safely innovate the process through a collaborative approach with our partners,” said Myron Keehn, CEO of the airport. “Alongside Leduc County and the city of Leduc, we are proud to advance sustainable solutions to first and final mile delivery at Edmonton International Airport and the surrounding region. Part of our commitment to being net zero by 2040 is creating opportunities for sustainable transportation and aviation, and we are excited to continue supporting and enhancing the future of drone delivery in the Edmonton metro region.”

DDC will start deploying the site infrastructure shortly and expects to begin providing drone delivery services under the commercial agreements later in 2024. The drone delivery project, which began in 2019, won an Xcellence Award for innovation from the Association for Uncrewed Vehicles Systems International in 2022 and became commercially operational in May 2022.

During the first phase of the project, more than 2400 flights with a total flight distance of over 6500km were completed. The new agreements add a second leg to the operations originating out of the central DroneSpot at the airport.

“We are very pleased to sign these new agreements as part of the next phase of our operations at Edmonton International Airport, as well as introducing two new partners as part of the agreements,” said Steve Magirias, DDC CEO. “This next phase will enable us to further expand our delivery capabilities, showcase our Canary RPA, and explore new use cases for RPA delivery within the airport area.”

In 1985 Apple Express (www.appleexpress.com) was established as a Toronto-based, local-delivery business. In 2016, Apple Express was acquired by a wholly owned subsidiary of BPost SA-NV, the Belgian-based international parcel and mail delivery service.

“We are excited to collaborate with our Edmonton partners as we explore novel approaches to meet the growing demands of our healthcare and technology customers,” said Nasser Syed, CEO of Apple Express Courier. “Cutting-edge last-mile delivery is essential in exceeding client expectations today and in the evolving future.”

BBE Expediting (bbex.com) is a supply chain company that has provided freight forwarding and distribution services across Canada since 1977.

“As we continue to find new ways to digitise the supply chain, BBE is excited to participate in this innovative drone delivery project alongside our partners in Edmonton,” said Heather Stewart, president of BBE Expediting. “Finding ways to push the boundaries on what is possible for remote deliveries is important to the future health of logistics.”

Edmonton International Airport (flyeia.com) is a self-funded, not-for-profit corporation driving economic prosperity for the Edmonton metropolitan region and beyond. It is Canada’s fifth-busiest airport by passenger traffic and the largest major Canadian airport by land area, generating an economic output of over $3.2bn and supporting over 26,000 jobs pre-pandemic.

Drone Delivery Canada (www.DroneDeliveryCanada.com) is a drone technology company focused on the design, development, and implementation of its proprietary logistics software platform, using drones. The company’s platform is intended to be used as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model for government and corporate organisations globally.