Helsinki is to test medical drone deliveries with flights in early November that will cover a distance of seven kilometres.
Drones will depart with supplies from a base in Kyläsaari, north of the city centre, to the Laajasalo health centre. The flights are scheduled to complete on 14 November at the latest. The drones will be flown several times a day during office hours on weekdays.
“Helsinki has never flown such long transport flights on a regular basis before. It will be interesting to see how this works, because there is enormous potential here. We have already learned a lot about the implementation of flights and the challenges that arise during preparation,” says Senior Project Manager Renske Martijnse-Hartikka from the City of Helsinki’s innovation company Forum Virium Helsinki. Martijnse-Hartikka is leading the European Union-funded CITYAM project, under which the test flights are taking place.
The overall aim of the trial is to find out how drones could be utilised in logistics and security of supply, both in everyday life and in exceptional and crisis situations.
The City of Helsinki’s construction services company Stara has equipped the base in Kyläsaari from which drone transports depart and are controlled. In addition, the drones can transport products from Stara’s logistics centre.
The drone is capable of carrying a maximum of three kilograms of cargo at a height of 60–100 metres. It will carry everyday healthcare supplies such as masks, gloves and disinfectant. In the future, it could be used to transport not only supplies but also samples or organ transplants.
The flights are operated with a permit from the Finnish Civil Aviation Authority, Traficom. Norwegian company Aviant will operate the flights from Oslo with an employee in Helsinki who will check the drone, charge it and make sure everything is in order for take-off and travel.
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