Logistics and aviation company Zeitfracht Group has ordered 17 delivery drones from aerospace manufacturer Wingcopter.
The 17 Wingcopter 198 delivery drones that the Zeitfracht Group purchased are to be deployed from the second half of 2024 – initially offshore, for example for the delivery of spare parts to wind farms. Wingcopters can carry a payload of up to 5kg and can cover distances of 75-110km.
Rostock Airport in Germany will be used for development cooperation and as a test field, where the measurements and the evaluation of the data will be collected. As part of the agreement, Zeitfracht Group will also retain the option to purchase another 115 until 2023. The partnership will drive the use of drones for deliveries.
The Zeitfracht Group is already doing business through its shipping company Offshore Projects Unique Solutions (OPUS) Marine, where delivery drones must have the accuracy to land on a moving ship. The aircraft model was selected by German Airways because of its resistance to wind as well as its large payload-to-range ratio. They take off vertically, without requiring additional infrastructure, and then move forward horizontally in flight like a normal aircraft. With their purely electric propulsion, Wingcopter delivery drones also contribute to zero-emission logistics.
Zeitfracht CEO Wolfram Simon-Schröter said, “At the Zeitfracht Group, we are very creative and always interested in using new technologies in a market-leading way. We believe the time is now ripe for the commercial use of drones, for example for the delivery of spare parts to offshore wind farms. With German Airways, our Rostock Airport and the experience of our shipping company OPUS in delivery operations on the high seas, together with Wingcopter we have the ideal prerequisites to drive this technology a huge step forward.”
Tom Plümmer, co-founder and CEO of Wingcopter, said, “We are very pleased to have won Zeitfracht as a partner with extraordinary experience in the logistics and aviation sector. With the planned supply flights to ships and offshore wind farms, we will tap into a new, fast-growing field of application for which the Wingcopter 198 is ideally suited thanks to its high efficiency, even in extreme weather conditions. In addition, the test site and the close cooperation offer the opportunity to jointly develop further promising business areas.”