Yeosu Islands, Drone Delivery Pilot Project Begins

by Heo Seonsik

Published 05 Aug.2024 15:15(KST)

Delivery of daily necessities, emergency medicines, and food to 10 island areas

Yeosu City, Jeollanam-do (Mayor Jeong Gi-myeong) announced that it will start a pilot drone delivery project to island areas vulnerable to logistics from the 22nd until the end of November.

The delivery areas include 10 islands within the jurisdiction such as Songdo, Dae and Sodo Islands, Dae and Sohyeonggando Islands, Jedo, Sang and Hahwado Islands, and Geumodo. In October, five hotel resorts located in Dolsan will be added to reverse-ship abalone, a local specialty of the islands.

[Photo by Yeosu City]

The delivered items will be daily necessities under 5kg, emergency medicines, and food delivery, with deliveries made once or twice a week per area.

Users can order and reserve through the delivery app (Yeosu Fly) or by calling the delivery company, and upon receiving an arrival notification message, pick up their items at the designated delivery point. The city will fully cover the delivery fees.

Meanwhile, this project was made possible as Yeosu City was selected for the second consecutive year this year in the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s ‘Drone Demonstration City Establishment Contest,’ securing 1.2 billion KRW in national funds, 120 million KRW in provincial funds, and 400 million KRW in city funds.

Accordingly, since March, delivery bases (drone takeoff and landing sites, control centers) have been installed at Jinmo and Jakgeum Ports in Dolsan and Gaedo in Hwajeong-myeon, and infrastructure such as delivery points (item receiving facilities) and drone situation rooms have been established. Additionally, detailed delivery systems including flight routes, safety management systems, and delivery app development have been constructed.

The city was previously designated as a ‘Drone Special Free Zone (’23.6.~24.6.)’ and is promoting advanced demonstration projects such as smart marine management and high-weight, long-distance logistics delivery, raising expectations for the development of the drone industry as a future new growth engine.

A city official said, “We expect that once the drone delivery service in island areas is established through this pilot period, it will be possible to respond to emergencies such as medicine delivery,” adding, “We will actively strive to verify the safety and efficiency of drone technology and provide various services throughout daily life.”