ROYAL MAIL PIONEERS THE UK’S FIRST FULL TIME DRONE DELIVERY SERVICE
Using beyond visual line of sight with visual mitigation (BVLOS VM) drone deliveries, Royal Mail is helping to improve and maintain a regular parcel delivery service to remote communities in the Orkney Islands.
Location: United Kingdom
Industry: Logistics
Drone used: Speedbird DLV-2
The challenge
Maintaining a regular delivery service to the UK’s remotest communities
As the UK’s national mail service, Royal Mail prides itself on delivering essential mail and packages in a timely manner across the nation.
Of course, this becomes more challenging the further away it operates from urban centres, and especially on the perimeters of the British Isles, such as at the Orkney Islands.
For remote island locations like the Orkneys, such as at Graemsay and Hoy, these mail deliveries have to be made and aligned with the local ferry schedule. But if the sea is too rough for the ferry to operate due to challenges of docking safely, the deliveries simply have to wait until the weather clears.
Communities on these islands can sometimes be left waiting days for essential mail and packages.
The solution
Inter-island drone deliveries
Operating out of Stromness on Orkney’s mainland, Skyports and Royal Mail established the UK’s first inter-island drone delivery service, known as the Orkney I-Port operation.
Postal deliveries arrive from mainland Scotland to Kirkwall Airport, where they are then driven to a delivery hub at Stromness. From there, the packages are loaded onto a Speedbird DLV-2 (which can carry payloads of up to 6kg), which then flies to Royal Mail sites on Graemsay and the North of Hoy. Postal operatives then meet the drone, collect the delivery, and continue their usual island delivery routes.
The drones are also operated remotely by the pilot-in-command from Skyports' state-of-the-art Remote Operations Centre near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. This streamlines operations, and significantly reduces the need for Skyports’ staff to remain on the ground in Orkney, with Royal Mail staff trained to manage tasks related to the receipt and dispatch of mail delivery drones, supporting more agile operations.
The result
Keeping remote communities connected, and meeting Universal Service Obligations
Flying close to a thousand flights to date, and in weather conditions that exceed the upper limits of the Orkney inter-island ferry, the drone delivery operations have significantly improved service levels for rural communities. The deliveries have shortened Royal Mail delivery times by up to 24 hours, alongside improving efficiency and reliability, and ultimately service levels and access for rural communities.
The project demonstrates how drone operations can support critical public services such as Royal Mail postal deliveries, and help Royal Mail to meet its Universal Service Obligation.
With the success of the initial pilots, the project is set to continue serving the communities of Graemsay and Hoy until at least February 2026.
TESTIMONIAL
“Royal Mail is always exploring innovative ways to continue to meet our Universal Service Obligation to deliver to the UK’s 32 million addresses. Through our successful trial with Skyports, we are making our deliveries to remote communities quicker, more reliable and more environmentally friendly.”
Chris Paxton
USO Programme Manager, Royal Mail