Wing brings drone delivery to Ireland as European regulators embrace positive steps

The European Union has recently made important progress in developing regulations for uncrewed aviation, providing a framework that seems poised to enable safe and scalable drone delivery. Wing is encouraged by what’s taking shape, and now we’re excited to explore the ways we can leverage these new regulations to bring this service to more European communities.

In the coming weeks, Wing will launch a small-scale demonstration of a drone delivery operation in Lusk, an Irish community in Fingal, County Dublin, 20 kms north of the city of Dublin. These operations will build off of our successful partnerships and approvals that were granted in Finland. The approvals can be recognized across EASA Member States and have been recognized by the Irish Aviation Authority.

To be clear, this is a first small step for Wing in Ireland, and will look different from the commercial services we now operate in Finland, Australia and the United States. We’re excited for the opportunity to demonstrate our technology and get feedback from the community.

We’ve already had preliminary discussions with local leaders, but we look forward to much deeper consultation over the coming days. We will be hosting a public community meeting at Lusk Community Cultural Centre on Thursday Oct 27 from 4-8pm. We invite anyone who would like to learn more to stop by, ask questions and get a chance to see our drones up close before they’re flying. This will be the first of many outreach events leading up to our service launch in Lusk.  

Wing chose Ireland because of the support and experience of the Irish Aviation Authority and the welcome Irish communities have given to new and innovative technologies. Lusk is a community with a strong local spirit and growing population. Operating in this type of dynamic environment will allow Wing to hear from a wide range of people, so we can learn from local residents, improve and expand over time.

Earlier this month we passed another milestone by completing our 300,000th delivery. As this technology continues to expand to new communities, we believe drone delivery will improve the way cities and towns operate by reducing road congestion and creating new economic opportunities for local businesses.  Our electric drones replace fossil fuel-intensive car trips, reducing local and global pollution.  This is an additive service that can be incorporated into existing supply chains, giving residents quicker, more efficient access to small deliveries.