“Look – up in the sky, it’s a bird, it’s a plane...” – No, it’s a pizza with the lot.
Domino’s New Zealand has joined with Flirtey, the global leader in drone deliveries, to launch the first commercial drone pizza delivery service in the world.
And Friday night pizzas may never be the same again.
The two companies showed how it could be done in a demonstration in Auckland on Thursday.
If they gain approval from aviation regulators, store-to-door drone deliveries could be a reality from later this year.
New Zealand was selected as the launch market because of its more flexible environment for trial of new airborne technologies
Domino’s group chief executive, Don Meij, says the company is constantly looking for innovative ways to deliver pizzas to customers.
“Our challenge has been to find ways to decrease delivery times,” he says. “Flirtey’s success with airborne delivery has been impressive and it’s something we have wanted to offer our customers,” Mr Meij says.
Drone delivery will complement Domino’s current options and will be fully integrated into online ordering and GPS systems.
Mr Meij says the delivery of a Supreme pizza by air is the future, but added to existing options.
“We have invested heavily in delivery fleet with electric scooters, e-bikes and even a Domino’s robot that we launched earlier this year,” he says.
“It doesn’t make sense anymore to have a two-tonne machine (a car) delivering a two-kilogram order.”
Trial flights are set to begin later this year after the beginning of daylight savings in New Zealand.
Domino’s will gradually extend the dimensions, weight and distance of deliveries throughout the trial.
Domino’s is also looking at drone delivery potential in its six other markets – Australia, Belgium, France, The Netherlands, Japan and Germany.
No word yet on whether the garlic bread and bottles of soft drink will be onboard.
