Pablo Airlines Launches Drone Delivery Service with Seven Eleven
Customers Order Products via App, Delivered to Station
Free Delivery Trial Until Year-End... Up to 5kg Load Capacity
Drone Delivery Station located in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi-do (7-Eleven Gapyeong Arboretum Branch No. 2) [Photo by Pablo Aviation]
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] "The ice arrived without melting."
Drone-specialized startup Pablo Aviation announced that it has launched the country's first convenience store drone delivery service in collaboration with 7-Eleven and recently completed its first successful order.
On the 13th, Pablo Aviation held an opening ceremony for the convenience store drone delivery station at 7-Eleven Gapyeong Arboretum Branch No. 2, located in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province.
The drone delivery service works by customers ordering 7-Eleven products through Pablo Aviation's application 'Ollivery,' and the items are delivered within about 3 minutes to the Adonis Pension located approximately 1 km away in Gapyeong.
The opening event was attended by Kim Young-jun, CEO of Pablo Aviation; Choi Kyung-ho, CEO of 7-Eleven; Jeon Young-min, CEO of Lotte Ventures; and Namgung Cheol, CEO of SM C&C.
After receiving an order, the convenience store moves the products to the rooftop, which serves as the takeoff and landing area, using a moving device (winch) at the drone station. Once the items are loaded into the drone delivery box, the control system operator automatically guides the drone to deliver and land at the pension's landing station.
Customers retrieve their ordered items from the landing station using a unique QR authentication, after which the drone returns to the drone delivery station.
The drone delivery service operates from the 13th, running every Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. until sunset. During the pilot operation period until the end of this year, there is no minimum order amount and delivery is free of charge. The maximum payload capacity of the drone is 5 kg.
There has also been a successful case of completing a drone delivery service based on an actual customer order.
A couple in their 20s (Hwang and Lee) living in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, downloaded the Ollivery app after receiving information from the pension that drone delivery was available, and ordered ice cups, ice cream, coffee, and other items sold at 7-Eleven.
The drone carrying the ordered products took off from 7-Eleven Gapyeong Arboretum Branch No. 2, flew about 1 km to the Adonis Pension station, and landed. The couple retrieved their ordered items from the landing station using their unique QR authentication. Afterwards, the drone returned to the drone delivery station.
Last month, the government announced plans to establish legal grounds for the drone delivery industry as part of new industry regulation improvements. Pablo Aviation plans to lay the foundation for the future drone industry by providing necessary data to the government using its mobility delivery platform.
Kim Young-jun, CEO of Pablo Aviation, said, "Pablo Aviation and 7-Eleven are the first in the country to provide all services from consumer app orders to product preparation and delivery in one place," adding, "We will do our best to provide a safe and effective delivery service."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
