Businesses have been taking advantage of the sky for decades. In the early 1920s, planes began trailing banner advertisements for companies and we’ve certainly come a long way since then, although aerial messages are still a popular form of advertising. Today, our world is on the verge of the drone being just as common as the bird.
This November, in Whangaparaoa, New Zealand, Domino’s Pizza has been testing its drone delivery system, which could soon be a popular form of delivery across the world.
“Part of our internal process is our project 3-10, which is where the customer can pick up an order within three minutes, and a pizza is delivered within 10 minutes still fresh and hot,” said Scott Bush, general manager of New Zealand’s Domino’s. “With our partnership with Flirtey, it is going to cut down times even further where we can anticipate drone deliveries within seven to eight minutes in the future.”
Flirtey, a drone delivery startup company, designed the drone-based unmanned delivery system. Using a GPS program and drone pilot, some delivery tests took only two to three minutes to deliver a fully made pizza.
According to UPI, Domino’s is planning to use its drone delivery program in Belgium, France, Australia, Japan, Germany, and the Netherlands.
Flirtey plans on addressing the U.S. drone market and recently relocated its originally New Zealand-based headquarters to Reno, Nevada. After receiving permission from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the drone company has since been testing itself by attempting to deliver medical supplies to rural areas in Virginia and off the coast of New Jersey.
Quartz reports that the FAA released a new set of regulations in June that govern the way drones are used in the U.S. for commercial purposes. However, the rules do not allow for flights beyond the line of sight of the pilot controlling the done, which means delivery programs could be an issue unless the destination is in close proximity to the pilot. Flirtey and other commercial businesses are hoping the FAA will amend its rules in the near future.