Mail Delivery to Remote Islands Now Possible

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Delivering mail is an increasing challenge in depopulated and remote areas. In Japan, destinations such as remote islands are especially problematic. To bridge this gap, Japan is looking to commercialize mail delivery by drones. Japan Post has invested 3 billion yen – more than $27M in drone manufacturer ACSL drone delivery technology, in order to implement commercial mail delivery by drone in 2023.

Japan Post and ACSL have been conducting drone delivery experiments since 2016. Current trials have successfully delivered packages and mail to private homes. The two envision a logistics process that could include package and mail delivery by drones to community bases such as remote islands and mountain villages; private homes; and local post offices and convenience stores.

The use of drones for mail delivery is not new. Drone delivery is becoming an increasingly realistic and valuable solution to the challenges facing mail delivery services around the world.  UK’s Royal Mail has demonstrated successful mail delivery to Isle of Mull and inter-island parcel delivery across the Scillies. Swiss Mail and Australian Post have also trialed mail delivery by drone.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused delivery backlogs and customer service problems with postal services around the world and highlighted the need to find alternatives to conventional methods that rely heavily on human resources and ground-based transportation.  Delivery drones offer an environmentally friendly method of making mail delivery logistics more efficient, less labor-intensive, and less expensive, according to dronelife.com.