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March 21, 2023: Manna Aero, a drone delivery company that has already completed over 100,000 deliveries in Ireland, plans to expand to mainland Europe and the US in 2023. The company is currently achieving up to 1,000 deliveries per day in dense urban markets and has demonstrated the ability to do 2,000 to 3,000 flights per day across its multiple locations. Its latest drone, the X-drone, can carry up to 7.5 pounds of cargo in a hold with 30,000 cubic centimetres of space and flies at 50 miles per hour. Each drone can perform 7-8 deliveries an hour at the cost of approximately one-tenth of a human driver in a car.
Manna Aero plans to focus on dense urban centres in the US, and its experience in Europe, where urban density is higher than in most of the US, gives it an advantage in bringing drone delivery to American cities. However, the company has not yet announced its first target market in the US.
Manna Aero is approaching a similar scale to Google’s sister company Wing, which is currently leading drone delivery in the US and globally and has demonstrated the ability to do tens of millions of deliveries for millions of consumers by mid-2024. However, Manna Aero CEO Bobby Healy is appreciative of his competition, including Amazon, which has not yet achieved the same number of deliveries.
Manna Aero is in the process of obtaining FAA approval, and its successful operations in Ireland will be helpful in obtaining approval. The company plans to attack dense urban centres in the US, where there is a need for drone delivery due to the problem of the economics of delivery and a customer need for it.
Despite the demand for drone delivery, there are still vested interests and competing priorities in governance, so it is not a slam dunk for cities like San Francisco or New York City. Nevertheless, with the average premium for door-to-door delivery of food now at 50-60%, there is pressure to make drone delivery more widely available. Manna Aero’s average flight time is two minutes and 40 seconds, ensuring that food is delivered hot and fresh
