Been there, drone that: Pizza air-delivery in Mumbai

05-23-2014 • http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com,T NN

The 'customer' was actually a friend of the chain's CEO, so it was technically not a sale, as commercial deliveries by drones are not allowed in India. Yet, in a way, it was a first for a product delivery Amazon has only planned. On May 11, the drone took off from the Lower Parel outlet and, flying at a speed of 30km an hour, manoeuvred its way atop the city's mill district to reach its destination, a high-rise in Worli, in nearly 10 minutes.

The drone dropped the 13-inch plain margherita pizza, weighing half a kilo, on the 21st floor rooftop (where it was collected by the 'customer') before taking off again for the return journey. The speed with which the delivery was made thus beat the record for most leading pizza chains, which manually deliver pizzas within 30 minutes.

The drone used in the operation was custom-made, said an official from the pizza chain, adding that an auto engineer friend of his had helped him make the flight possible. The official said the chain had carried out the test-delivery as an experiment because it wants to be ready when regulations in India allow for such methods of product delivery.