JAL - Japan Airlines (JL, Tokyo Haneda) will conduct a drone delivery demonstration together with Yabu, a town in the mountainous Hyōgo Prefecture of southern Japan, this coming spring to verify the feasibility of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology to transport emergency goods in unpopulated areas.
The flag carrier has been working with Terra Drone Corporation since last summer on how to perform test flights with fixed-wing drones using Terra UTM unmanned aircraft system traffic management technology, which matches flight plans and flight data with various communication methods, it explained in a press release dated January 24.
“JAL and Terra Drone will aim to solve regional issues by providing logistics services using UAVs, such as the delivery of pharmaceuticals and other emergency supplies,” the statement said.
Initial tests will plot a 25-kilometre route from Yoka Municipal Hospital to the Deai Clinic over the River Yagi, transporting relief supplies such as bandages and over-the-counter medicines.
By deploying new UAV technology, JAL says it aims to develop a new type of service in the air transportation industry, “delivering medical care in remote areas and achieving key sustainable development goals”, while also, together with Terra Drone, “driving the Aerial Industrial Revolution”.
Yabu has already used drones in agriculture and is now looking to expand the technology into other fields, such as disaster relief, logistics, and medical care. Through these demonstrations, the town will work on the deregulation of UAV technology with the aim of assisting less populated regional areas.
