Drones

Watch the first drone-delivered pizza touch down in New Zealand

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Domino's has teamed up with drone company Flirtey for the venture
Domino's General Manager Scott Bush (left) and Flirtey's New Zealand Director Samantha Sharif (right) with a couple of happy customers in between
Customers tuck into their drone-delivered-pizza
Domino's has teamed up with drone company Flirtey for the venture
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What's an acceptable time to wait for a pizza delivery? 30 minutes? 15 minutes? Our expectations around home-delivered hot cheese may soon change, thanks to the arrival of flying pizza pies. Domino's has marked the beginnings of the pizza-by-drone era, carrying out the first store-to-customer delivery in New Zealand today.

Domino's has toyed with the idea of drone-delivered pizza for a little while, showing off a promotional "DomiCopter" back in 2013. But back in August it showed it wasn't messing around, teaming up with US-based drone company Flirtey and gaining approval to kick off trials in New Zealand.

And following daily testing and tweaks to the hardware and software, Domino's has now gone ahead and loaded a Peri-Peri Chicken Pizza and a Chicken and Cranberry Pizza into a drone's undercarriage and sent it on its way. Flirtey's drone flew autonomously using GPS to the customer's home in Whangaparaoa, 25 km (15.5 mi) north of Auckland. And then at 11:19 am, it lowered the meal down onto a designated landing zone by cable.

Customers tuck into their drone-delivered-pizza

Eating pizza at that time of morning may or may not be legal, but there can be no questions about the legality of the delivery method. Flirtey gained permission from New Zealand's Civil Aviation authority to carry out the deliveries and CEO Matt Sweeney has previously told us that with some of the most liberal aviation laws in the world, the country is ahead of the curve in integrating drones into its airspace.

With this first delivery under its belt, Domino's says it is now working to expand the service across greater distances and with greater payloads, and although we're not quite there yet, we are getting closer to a time when you can push a button on your smartphone and be diving into a drone-delivered pizza less than 10 minutes later. It also says it is looking into expanding the service to Australia, Belgium, France, The Netherlands, Japan and Germany.

You can watch the delivery play out and hear from those involved in the video below.

Source: Domino's

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6 comments
KeisukeMiyagi
I call BS! There's no possible way Domino's made a pizza that looks that delicious.
Bob Flint
Does it bring the tip back?
SvenSterne
Seriously, what´s the point...? Does a-n-y-o-n-e see a need for this?
If I ever see one in my neighborhood, I´ll use my slingshot and clean the air.
GWA111
Still, nobody has thought of how to stop drones being deprived of their payload by those other than the legitimate customers. Naive? Or is this how these companies will make extra money - the delivery of the cargo not being their responsibility.....
Craig Jennings
Another proud moment for NZ aviation. Richard Pearse would be proud :) We don't really tip in NZ Bob. We were the first to engage eftpos and everything is plastic over website or app now. Can't remember the last time I phone ordered anything. Sadly cash is dying :( a worry for everyone when the govt can track all your transactions! SAVE CASH! sorry, that got OT. Yay drones! Give em a chance, less traffic congestion at least?
keith14
This contraption would be a hit in the earthquake ravaged North Canterbury seaside town of Kaikura.