Port Authority of NY/NJ, Skyports explore drone delivery 

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has entered an agreement with Skyports Drone Services to explore the logistics and market for drone delivery across the Hudson River. 

For the first six months of the yearlong partnership, the U.K.-based cargo drone operator will reach out to potential drone delivery customers to gauge interest in middle-mile delivery between New York and New Jersey. 

“We’re relying on Skyports’ experience in other locations to see if they can drum up interest in drone routes in the region,” the port authority (PANYNJ) told Air Cargo Next. “That doesn’t mean [it will] definitely happen, because whether it happens depends on the interest that Skyports gets.” 

If there is enough interest, Skyports will determine the best routes for drone delivery. 

“It hasn’t been done here before,” PANYNJ said. “So, we don’t actually know what the demand is for such services. And the demand will dictate what the routes could look like and also how many of them.” 

The cargo would likely be limited to small, high-value payloads, such as time-sensitive documents, medicines and vaccines, spare parts and tools, and mail in difficult-to-reach or complex environments, according to PANYNJ. 

Air Cargo Next’s free webinar “The Role of Drones in the Future of Air Cargo,” which will livestream Tuesday, March 26, at 11 a.m. ET, will discuss the regulations and technologies needed to enable drone delivery advancements. Register here. 

Experimenting with drones 

The port authority increased its drone experimentation last year. The PANYNJ entered a five-year Space Act agreement with NASA in February to collaborate on initiatives to improve Urban Air Mobility, including the use of drones and electric vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) vehicles to move cargo and passengers.  

NASA’s Langley Research Center in Virginia is researching how vehicles could operate safely in an urban environment. The port authority will act as a liaison with airlines and other interested parties and help select scenarios for more NASA research.  

The port authority tested middle-mile cargo delivery via drone in May 2023 when it flew a box of Raspberry Rally Girl Scout cookies from Brooklyn to Jersey City. The flight took 30 minutes roundtrip, a journey that would have taken a road vehicle two to four hours, according to the PANYNJ. 

“Arranging the cargo drone demo in itself was no small feat considering the geographical locations of the takeoff and landing sites: within the restricted and very complex airspace between New York City and New Jersey that is filled with helicopters and, above them, airplanes,” the port authority stated. “If delivery by drone is to become a reality in the region, the Port Authority must work closely with the FAA and every jurisdiction touched by a possible drone flight path.” 

The port authority already uses drones for public safety and construction planning. 

The next steps 

Skyports has experience spearheading these types of projects. The drone operator is also working to solidify a drone delivery program in Kaga, Japan, following a successful proof of concept in March 2023. The Kaga program transports supplies and samples between medical centers. 

“A central focus of our work [with the PAYNYNJ] will be identifying a customer — or customers — who can benefit from drone technologies and are interested in scaling up these services over time,” Steven Spinello, partnerships and strategy lead at Skyports, told Air Cargo Next. “Skyports … will first establish and catalog the parameters of the operating environment — including technical, operational and regulatory factors — before progressing towards limited trial operations … following receipt of the necessary approvals from local [authorities having jurisdiction] and the FAA.” 

Skyports will complete the project in three phases, Spinello said: 

1. Identifying and cataloging “key constraints and enablers” for drone operations in the bi-state area, culminating with a visual-line-of-sight proof of concept; 
2. Identifying a customer and launching limited trial drone operations, which can be scaled up and tweaked as needed; and 
3. Proposing launch customers and routes, looking to beyond-visual-line-of-sight operations. 

Each phase’s commencement is incumbent on the previous phase’s success. 

Should the project reach the trial phase, the PANYNJ has already named Elroy Air as the drone provider. Elroy Air, named for the son in “The Jetsons” cartoon, has designed its aircraft to operate in urban and heavily settled areas. 

“We have built our system with these needs in mind,” Jason Chow, director of strategy and business development at Elroy Air, told Air Cargo Next. “Our aircraft, the Chaparral, is an uncrewed, hybrid-electric VTOL aircraft that will be capable of carrying 300 pounds of cargo over a 300-mile range.  

“When flying over urban and highly settled areas, high system reliability is paramount,” he said. “We’ve met with policymakers and regulators to understand the range of things that would be needed to fly over dense population centers and have taken their feedback into account in the development of our aircraft.” 

Setting the groundwork  

A successful middle-mile drone delivery program would open the door for further drone delivery in the bi-state area and across the country, Spinello said. He noted that this project will require “significant coordination” among the port authority, Skyports and the FAA. 

“This project will enable the port authority to establish whether unmanned aircraft are capable of operating in one of the most complex airspaces in the country,” he said. “This level of coordination between relevant regulatory bodies and commercial unmanned aviation system [UAS] operators will serve as a proving ground for UAS applications in dense urban environments like New York City. To date, very little work has been performed that tests and evaluates the costs/benefits of UAS applications in the Hudson River airspace.” 

The port authority and Skyports must contend with many challenges during this exploration, Spinello said. The main issue is the area’s already congested airspace and the many rules that govern it. 

“The port district — or the about-25-mile area which surrounds the Statue of Liberty — includes three major commercial airports … all of which have surrounding controlled airspace, Class B airspace,” Spinello said. “The operation of drones in controlled airspace is usually a nonstarter.” 

Despite challenges, exploring drone delivery is important because it is more sustainable than traditional delivery methods, such as by truck, and will reduce road congestion, according to the Port Authority. 

Register here for Air Cargo Next’s free webinar, “The Role of Drones in the Future of Air Cargo,” available on Tuesday, March 26, at 11 a.m. ET.