France to launched first drone based postal service

France to launched first drone based postal service  .France’s airspace regulator, General Directorate for Civil Aviation, has approved the plan to launch drone delivery program, making France the world’s first national postal service to use drones regularly. The French postal service announced that France is setting up a drone delivery program to deliver parcels on a nine-mile route once a week.

iii. Initially the drones will only be flying in the southern region of Provence, as a feasibility test for the technology and regulations. The drones would pick up packages from Saint-Maximin-La-Sainte-Beaume and take them to Pourrières in the Var department, a region that hosts some start-up companies, including a dozen specializing in technology. The program is a new way of addressing the issue of last-mile deliveries, especially in areas that are difficult to access.The drones have a range of 19 km and a top speed of 30.5 kmph. They also have parachutes for safe emergency landing and will help reach mountainous regions.The trial is being run by a group called DPDgroup, which has been working on the project with French drone startup Atechsys for the last two years.

 DPDgroup, an international subsidiary of French national postal service Le Groupe La Poste.