LONG-DISTANCE DELIVERY DRONES

[Anchor Lead]

It usually takes a day longer to deliver parcels to island areas than to cities in Korea. But with the introduction of long-distance delivery drones, island residents will soon be able to receive their parcels within just an hour and even order food.

[Pkg]

A drone successfully flies through gusty 12-meter-per-second winds and lands on Jawoldo Island. It flew 80 kilometers from Incheon Port in one hour and 20 minutes to deliver medical products. This breaks the previous record set on Jejudo Island a year ago, when a drone flew 57 kilometers in two hours.

[Soundbite] KIM YOUNG-JOON(PABLO AIR) : "It flew 80 km. It's the first long-haul delivery flight in Korea."

This vertical takeoff and landing drone measuring 3.6 meters long can fly up to 150 kilometers for two and a half hours. Once its battery performance is improved, it will be able to fly for 12 hours to deliver parcels overseas. What's more, these drones can be used for simultaneous deliveries to multiple places using collective flight technology. This company plans to launch drone deliveries to islands and remote areas in 2022 after improving safety and security. Incheon City, an air travel and maritime transportation hub of Korea, has launched a logistics robot project.

[Soundbite] HONG JUN-HO(INCHEON CITY GOV'T) : "We plan to nurture Incheon into a robotics hub by attracting many businesses to develop all kinds of robots, including those for entertainment and logistics."

More than ten drone delivery bases will be created in cities with islets, including Incheon, Mokpo and Tongyeong. An island delivery app is also to be developed soon. The day when island residents will be able to receive deliveries in just one hour and even order food while fishing is not a distant future anymore.