While unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs, or drones) figure in to the future cargo operational plans of major companies including SF Express, Amazon and UPS, the futuristic technology  has typically left industry observers skeptical that future regulatory requirements will meet the needs of the niche equipment operations.

However, the future is now, and Canadian company Drone Delivery Canada, in partnership with its sales agent Air Canada Cargo, has announced a commercial agreement for drone deliveries, with operations scheduled to begin during the fourth quarter of this year.

The agreement was announced Sept. 10 and was secured with manufacturing company Vision Profile Extrusions by Air Canada Cargo. Drone Delivery Canada could not be reached for comment, but according to the company’s statement, drone deliveries will take off and land from DDC’s “DroneSpot” zones and from drone flight infrastructure on the Vision sites using Sparrow cargo drones. The drones will carry cargo up to 10 pounds on routes between Vision’s Ontario properties. The routes have already received approval from regulatory agency Transport Canada.

The initial agreement is for a term of one year, with additional successive terms of one year each to follow unless the agreement is terminated. Vision will pay a monthly fee for each route, and flights will be remotely monitored by DDC from its new operations center in Vaughan, Ontario. Deliveries will begin once infrastructure has been built at Vision Profile’s sites.

DDC also offers a much larger drone than the design that will operate for Vision. Its Condor drone, for heavier operations, has a capacity of up to 400 pounds. You can view video of the Sparrow drone and more about DDC’s DroneSpot platform below: