Google's world-first drone delivery business wins approval in Canberra theguardian.com

A world-first drone delivery business has been granted approval to take to the skies over Canberra’s north. For the past 18 months, Project Wing, an offshoot of Google’s parent company Alphabet, has been trialling drone delivery of food and drinks, medication and locally-made coffee and chocolate. The aviation watchdog confirmed on Tuesday it had signed off on the scheme. The Casa spokesman Peter Gibson said the safety of the drones, traffic management system, maintenance, drone pilot training and operational plans have been examined. “All those safety issues have been assessed so there are no risks to people on the ground, property or aircraft in the sky,” Gibson told Guardian Australia. He said the approval has been granted with strict conditions including daylight operating hours. The drones are banned from crossing over major roads and there’s a minimum distance they have to maintain from people on the ground.