Domino's drone delivers for Kiwis

Domino’s Pizza has joined forces with drone supplier Flirtey to launch what it says is the world’s first commercial drone delivery service, with the two companies exhibiting the first stage of their partnership with a demonstration of pizza delivery by drone in Auckland on 25 August.

The successful demonstration was attended by representatives of the Civil Aviation Authority and the New Zealand Minister of Transport, Simon Bridges.

The demonstration was conducted under Civil Aviation Rules Part 101 and marks a final step in Flirtey’s approval process.

The partnership aims to connect people with pizza via CAA-approved trial store-to-door drone deliveries from a selected Domino’s New Zealand store with flights to customer homes later this year.

New Zealand was selected as the launch market because its regulations allow for businesses to embrace unmanned aircraft opportunities.

Domino’s Group CEO and Managing Director Don Meij said the company’s growth over the past few years had led to a significant increase in the number of deliveries and that Domino’s is constantly looking for innovative and futuristic ways to deliver pizzas to customers.

The use of drones as a delivery method is designed to work alongside Domino’s current delivery fleet and will be fully integrated into online ordering and GPS systems.

You can watch a video of the demonstration flight here.