Alphabet's drone delivery service Wing has made 'thousands' of deliveries in Australia during the pandemic
by Sharon Masige
- Drone delivery service Wing has had an increase in use during the coronavirus pandemic.
- Wing is a subsidiary of Google’s parent company Alphabet and it launched in Canberra in 2019.
- Wing’s deliveries doubled from February to March and again from March to April this year.
- Visit Business Insider Australia’s homepage for more stories.
Drone delivery service Wing has seen an uptick in use during the coronavirus pandemic.
Wing is a subsidiary of Google’s parent company Alphabet and launched in none other than our very own capital Canberra in 2019.
And plenty of people have been using the service over the past few months as the coronavirus pandemic continues. Wing found that the use of its service has risen 500% between February and April, including in Australia.
“We saw the number of deliveries double from February to March, then again from March to April, including thousands of deliveries in Australia in that timeframe,” Maria Catanzariti Wing Communications Lead told Business Insider Australia via email.
Wing has delivery sites in Canberra, Logan, Queensland, Virginia in the US and Helsinki in Finland. And its received a roughly 350% increase month on month in sign-ups to its service around the world.
In Australia, Wing delivers items from 24 businesses – 16 in Canberra and 8 in Logan. These include retailers such as Wokitup!, Kickstart Expresso and Sushi Hub. In Canberra it works across the suburbs of Crace, Palmerston, Harrison and Franklin in the Gungahlin community. While in South East Queensland, it operates across the suburbs of Crestmead and Marsden in Logan.
Some of the most popular items delivered by drone include coffee, fresh bread, and household groceries like milk, eggs, and toilet paper – as well as hot roast chickens and sushi.
How Wing works
Deliveries are made via the Wing app. Once you place an order, a drone picks up the package at Wing’s delivery facility then – at its flight altitude – it heads to its destination.
Once it gets to the destination, the drone slows down, hovers and drops to 7 meters above the ground. It then lowers the package to the ground by a tether and releases it in the selected delivery area – whether that’s a front yard or back yard.
The drone doesn’t land and there is no need for you to unclip it or help with the delivery. When it’s done, it just goes back to its cruise height and returns to Wing’s site.
The drones have a wingspan of 1 metre, weigh roughly 4.8kg and can carry packages of around 1.5kg. They can reach speeds of up to 113km/h and their fastest delivery time to date has been 2mins and 47 seconds.
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