Indian Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) company Avianco is offering its services free to support COVID vaccine delivery, says the company on LinkedIn. According to a report by the Times of India, trials are underway in Uttarakhand to see if the shots can be delivered to remote hilly areas using drones. In the first trial, a fixed-wing drone carried a box of medicines in an ice box from Dehradun to Mussoorie in November in a journey that lasted one hour. The report said the Director of Uttarakhand Drone Application and Research Centrer (DARC) Amit Sinha said, “This can be a time and cost-effective way to deliver vaccines. Transporting vials of across short distances and to inaccessible and treacherous zones are the first among many targets.”
The state will need permission from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) before the process starts. “The payload will be heavy, so a go-ahead from the DGCA is a must,” he said.
(Image: Times of India)
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