Dublin drone trials

Frequently asked questions

Trial details

Who is the team behind this trial?

This trial is being run as a partnership between Apian and Wing, together with a number of healthcare partners in South Dublin, including Medtronic, Blackrock Health at Blackrock Clinic and St. Vincent’s Private Hospital.

When will the trial take place?

The trial will start at the beginning of July 2024 and run for around 3-6 months.

What are you transporting?

We will be transporting medical supplies, medical devices, and other related medical products. The delivery service will start with items including Medtronic’s ingestible camera, PillCam™, sutures, surgical tools and heart valve repair products, with plans to expand to pacemakers and Implantable Cardiac Defibrillators (ICDs) in the future.

What are the benefits of medical drone delivery?

Medical drone deliveries have the potential to make quicker, more reliable, more sustainable deliveries than traditional land-based modes of transport. This will enable patients to receive the care they need sooner. 

How often will you fly?

We will fly Monday-Friday up to 20 flights per day. These flights will take place between the hours of 9am-5pm. Flights will only take place during daylight hours, so in winter the hours of operation may be less.

Can I get a delivery to my home?

This trial is exclusively for the delivery of medical supplies and devices to hospitals or other healthcare facilities. There will be no deliveries to individual homes. 

Drone and airspace details

What are the characteristics of the drone?

The Wing drone is primarily made of foam, weighs around 5kg, carries around 1kg, and will cruise at about 100 km/h. The drone has been flown on three continents with over 350,000 commercial deliveries and thousands more test and simulation flights. Learn more about the Wing drone here. 

How high do the drones fly?

The drones will fly at a height of approximately 45 metres.

What route will the drone take?

The drones will fly from our base location in Dundrum to Blackrock Clinic and St. Vincent’s Private Hospital in South Dublin.

How fast will they get there?

The journeys to these hospitals would typically take anywhere from 15 - 30 minutes by road, depending on traffic. The drone flight time for the same route is only approximately 3 minutes, with a roundtrip delivery completed in approximately 6 minutes.

Who will fly the drone?

The drones are highly automated and operate along pre-programmed flight routes. All flights are overseen by a trained Pilot in Command. 

Can the drone fly in bad weather?

Yes, the drones can tolerate significant rain and wind, up to a point of course! The drones have been used for routine deliveries in the heat of Australia, the cold of Finland, and the rain of Lusk, Ireland. If the weather is so extreme that flights are not possible, the deliveries will be made via conventional means.

Are the drones safe? 

Yes, Wing’s delivery drones are among the safest ways to transport goods; they are safer for the community than having goods delivered by truck or car. There are multiple levels of redundancy built into the drones operations, including real-time systems that conduct health and safety checks on our drones and qualified pilots who oversee operations. The safety of Wing’s aircraft, personnel and operations are rigorously reviewed and all operations can only be undertaken with the approval of the regulators in each country Wing operates. In Ireland, Wing works closely with the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA).

Do the drones have cameras?

Wing’s drones are built from the ground up with the goal of delivering packages – not taking photographs. They’re equipped with low-resolution, black-and-white camera sensors used primarily to assist with navigation and to help ensure the safety and reliability of our operations. There is no live feed of images available to anyone — including the safety pilots supervising flights.

How environmentally friendly is it?

All drones are fully electric and emit zero carbon emissions during flight.

Further information

Who can I talk to for more information?

We’d love to hear from you! 

Alongside the initial preparatory flights we’ll be undertaking a period of community engagement in the local area to share more information about this project.

If you’d like to hear more about this, or have any other questions or feedback then we encourage you to reach out to us directly at feedback@apian.aero.