Drone delivery to be available for remote areas in Korea

A service that delivers packages to islands and mountainous regions using drones is now becoming a reality. Package delivery from Incheon to nearby islands is currently conducted using 10 passenger ship routes. However, PABLO AIR, a member company of the Born2Global Centre, plans to use its unmanned aerial vehicles to enable a higher-efficiency logistics service and bridge the gap in services between regions. This will eliminate the regional inequality in logistics for daily goods.

Selected for Incheon's logistics robot promotion program, PABLO AIR supplies integrated drone delivery platform usingvertical takeoff and landing drones based on drone swarm technology. These are logistics drone operating software that are tailored to the characteristics of Incheon, which has an airport and numerous ports and industrial complexes.

A company based in Incheon Port that is developing a drone platform capable of operating 100 logistics drones at one time, offering delivery services by air to island regions, PABLO AIR demonstrated Korea's first trial of long-range drone operation (up to 57.5 kilometers). Next year, it is planning to make a 40- to 50-kilometer test flight from Incheon Port to Jawoldo and Ijakdo islands, in Woongjin County. Incheon Port Authority will provide an area exclusively for the takeoff and landing of drones in island areas and major port facilities in Incheon.

A related official said, "With its airport, ports, industrial complexes, and free economic zone, Incheon is well-suited for the development of demand for logistics drones and demonstration of the technology. We aim to fill in the logistics void in island regions by utilizing Incheon Port's logistics infrastructure and drone technology."

Founded in 2018, PABLO AIR is a developer of unmanned aerial software and hardware. It was the first Korean company to successfully conduct a long-distance over-sea drone delivery, which covered a distance of 57.5 kilometers and took 1 hour and 56 minutes. Its core business is the development of drone swarm platforms and provision of related solutions. Established by graduate and doctoral researchers in aerial technology, PABLO AIR succeeded in securing KRW 3 billionin Series A funding in collaboration with Lee Soo-man, chief producer of SM Entertainment, and the KTB Network. It has completed the development of its own drone hardware and is currently working on a software solution that integrates manned and unmanned drones. It is also pursuing projects in areas such as drone swarm technology-based logistics, disaster monitoring, and smart city environment monitoring. Its ultimate vision is to develop benchmark technology and set a new milestone in the PAV (personal air vehicle) air taxi industry.