Japan Airlines signs MoU to launch healthcare drone delivery in Tokyo

September 25, 2020: Japan Airlines (JAL) and urban logistics drone developer Matternet signed an MoU to assess drone delivery healthcare opportunities and develop a future drone healthcare delivery business in Japan utilizing Matternet's M2 urban drone logistics platform.

Matternet M2 drone system will be deployed in Tokyo's new drone logistics project and utilized to assess drone delivery healthcare opportunities in Japan

Since last year, JAL has been conducting demonstrations on transporting relief supplies through various trials within Japan. Currently, in order to develop logistics services using drones, JAL is studying the feasibility for the commercialization of such services with various companies and hospitals. Through this partnership, Matternet will conduct a joint research project with JAL in Japan, as the company continues to expand its commercial business globally. Further, JAL will consider deploying the Matternet M2 drone system in the drone logistics business development project of Tokyo to possibly develop a sustainable business model.

Matternet
Matternet is a developer of on-demand, autonomous, urban drone logistics systems for transporting medical items across distributed healthcare networks, providing its technology platform-as-a-service to healthcare and logistics organizations. Matternet has launched successful drone networks around the world and received regulatory approval from the Swiss Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA) and U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to conduct fully-autonomous Beyond Line of Sight operations and Flights Over People to transport critical, high-value medical items. To date, Matternet technology has enabled 10,000+ commercial revenue drone flights.

Andreas Raptopoulos, CEO of Matternet, said, "We are very excited to expand our operations to Asia and partner with JAL to show the incredible impact of drone delivery to Japan's cities, starting with the Tokyo metropolitan area. Matternet's drone delivery platform enables extremely fast and predictable transport of urgent items and stands to revolutionize how healthcare and e-commerce are delivered in cities and megacities around the world."

Tomohiro Nishihata, managing executive officer of innovation, JAL, said, "Japan Airlines is eager to explore the future of its air logistics business with the implementation of drone delivery. We aim to contribute to improving healthcare and solving logistics issues through our partnership with Matternet."

JAL aims to develop a new type of service in the air transportation industry, utilizing new UAV technology, by delivering the operational platform in New Air mobility and achieve key sustainable development goals.

The Matternet Drone Station