Wing, Alphabet’s delivery arm, has been testing the technology since 2014, but was finally granted permission by the civil aviation authority on Tuesday to start serving Australian customers.
The service will initially be limited to around 100 eligible homes in the suburbs of Crace, Palmerston and Franklin in the country’s capital, but is expected to rapidly expand to other parts of the city.
The Google sister company has been trialling the service with willing volunteers since 2017, who have enjoyed locally-made coffee and chocolate, as well as medication, flown directly to their doorsteps.
"Over the past 18 months, Wing has delivered food, small household items and over the counter chemist products more than 3,000 times to Australian homes," the company announced in a blog post.
The flying drones can travel up to 120km/h using an electric power system, with zero carbon emissions, according to the Alphabet subsidiary’s website.
The company has released explainer videos and testimonials to illustrate how the system works.
Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) gave the system the green light after concluding that it “meets an acceptable level of safety" and it works within the guidelines for commercial drone operators flying over 2kg.
However, CASA stipulated that the drones will be only allowed to fly for a maximum of 12 hours a day and must not be fully-automated – they need to be piloted remotely from the ground.
Wing has announced further plans to launch the drone delivery service in Europe. The system is due to be set up in Finland later this year.
