Germany’s first fully automated drone delivery service was launched by the Koerschulte Group in Lüdenscheid, Germany, on Wednesday, 21 February 2024. HHLA Sky, a subsidiary of Hamburger Hafen und Logistik  , supports the flight operations of the delivery drones with its own integrated drone control centre

Two years of development work have resulted in the launch of the first commercial delivery drone airline for B2B courier deliveries with automated flying drones. The German Federal Office of Civil Aeronautics had previously granted the Koerschulte Group the first nationwide licence for scheduled flights with delivery drones. This marks the launch of the first delivery drone airline in Germany that is authorised to fly automatically in public spaces (SAIL III operating permission).

The drone flights are monitored by HHLA Sky’s Integrated Control Centre, a highly automated process management and control centre software that makes the entire process of drone operations safe and the service easily scalable (Drones as a Service).

The first customer is the sensor and process control technology manufacturer Hotset in Lüdenscheid, Germany. In the coming months, a further five flight routes will be following. Up to 80 parcels a day are to be flown to customers within Lüdenscheid by the automated drones.