Airbus, XAG team up for drone delivery

Airbus and Guangzhou-based startup XAG announced on Monday a deal to jointly develop drone cargo solutions for food and package delivery firms. 

Both sides demonstrated a trial drone delivery of noodles and soups in Guangzhou. The delivery flight covered 1.6 kilometers in three minutes, reaching a height of 50 meters.

The project, codenamed Project Vesper, is a joint development by Airbus and XAG. It’s still in the technical test stage, said Justin Gong, vice president and co-founder of XAG. 

As a Guangzhou-based drone maker focusing on agriculture applications, there have been 42,000 XAG drones operating in the field already. 

The two sides have developed a drone with a takeoff weight under 25 kilograms, a payload of up to 4 kilograms and maximum flight distance of 12 kilometers.  

Other firms including Amazon, JD, Alibaba and SF Express are developing drone cargo delivery services.

It’s “never too late” to start a service to connect merchant, delivery company and customer, Gong added.