Skyports has also secured the regulatory approval for the drones to be piloted remotely from Skyports’ ROC in Buckinghamshire in the UK, which will allow the delivery network to be scaled up easily, reducing delivery costs.
Skyports Drone Services (Skyports) and AZ Turnhout have launched an on-demand medical drone delivery trial in Kempen, Belgium. The service will be using drones to transport urgent medical cargo between the hospital campuses of AZ Turnhout St Jozef and AZ Herentals, using A-kwadraat as a central operational hub.
Operating Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) and piloted remotely via Skyports’ Remote Operations Centre (ROC) in Buckinghamshire, UK, the project significantly shortens delivery times compared to traditional van and bike services.
This shift not only streamlines hospital logistics but also improves the overall patient experience by enabling faster diagnosis and treatment.
Skyports has also secured the regulatory approval for the drones to be piloted remotely from Skyports’ Remote Operations Centre (ROC) in Buckinghamshire in the UK, which will allow the delivery network to be scaled up easily, reducing delivery costs for the medical network.
At the beginning of June, airspace receivers were installed on the roofs of all the hospitals in the region to help facilitate the drone operations, ensuring that the drones can integrate with existing crewed airspace. Precision landing QR barcodes have also been placed at each location to mark the automated drone landing sites.
This infrastructure allows for real-time drone coordination in active airspace and paves the way for consistent, 24/7 delivery of essential medical supplies.
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For the first phase of the trial, the drones will be flying 5 days a week, with a longer-term ambition to develop the first permanent medical drone delivery network in Belgium, providing automated drone delivery stations at the key hospital sites in Kempen, which could be operated 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Jef Geudens, Head of Technology, Skyports Drone Services, said, “By transporting medical samples and medication quickly and reliably through the air, Skyports is enabling the future centralisation of laboratory activities in specialised hubs such as A-kwadraat.”
“This means that not every hospital needs to invest in the same costly infrastructure. At the same time, this can help accelerate access to personalised treatments — such as patient-specific chemotherapy — which can be delivered faster and made available across multiple locations.”
Griet Braekmans, Director of Facilities and Project Manager at AZ Turnhout, said, “As a hospital, we are of course very enthusiastic about this project. For years, we’ve been working together with hospitals in the Kempen region and A-kwadraat in the areas of medication and pathology samples.”
“Over the past five years, we’ve focused on organising transport between hospitals in an efficient and sustainable way. With drones, we can provide more personalised care for patients and improve collaboration between hospitals.”
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