Flying pizzas? Pigs might fly first
Plans by Domino’s Pizza Enterprises to trial drone pizza deliveries are ‘‘completely unfeasible’’ and nothing more than a publicity stunt, a drone expert says.
The pizza company has partnered with drone company Flirtey to trial airborne pizza deliveries in New Zealand in what the company said would be the first commercial drone delivery service in the world.
Store-to-door drone deliveries would start from selected Domino’s stores after daylight savings starts on September 25.
But X-craft Enterprises director Philip Solaris said pizza delivery by drones was a long way off due to strict Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) regulations and health and safety laws.
‘‘It’s completely unfeasible at the moment,’’ Solaris said.
X-craft is a CAA approved drone operator providing emergency, forestry, commercial, farming and survey services using fixed wing and multi-rotor drones.
Solaris said urban settings were one of the most challenging environments to fly drones with multiple hazards including power lines, vehicles and people to avoid.
There was also a ‘‘soup’’ of different radio frequencies in urban areas which could affect flight performance and tight restrictions around flying drones across roads.
He said Domino’s was trying to ‘‘jump on the band wagon’’ in adopting drone technology and described the announcement as a publicity stunt.
Drones were extremely dangerous machines that had the potential to kill people if they collided with a vehicle, he said.
The razor-sharp rotor blades could also inflict severe injury or death, he said.
Drone pilots were required to keep direct sight of drones during flights and only experienced professionals should operate them commercially.
‘‘It won’t be a pizza delivery kid in charge of that. You can’t just programme it to go off and do something.’’
Domino’s chief executive Don Meij said drones extended delivery areas by removing barriers such as traffic and access, as well as offering faster, safer deliveries.
Domino’s is also working with the Government to test an autonomous pizza delivery vehicle designed to keep pizzas hot and drinks cold, while travelling on the footpath from the store to the customer’s door.
CAA spokeswoman Philippa Lagan said because Domino’s application was under consideration, it could not comment publicly on it.