Jeju Island starts drone delivery service to its neighboring islands

Chicken is being delivered by drone to Biyangdo on July 3. Courtesy of Jeju Island

At 5 p.m. on July 3, some 20 residents of Biyangdo, one of Jeju Island's neighboring islands, gathered around a drone delivery store established at the harbor of the island. This is because there are no chicken restaurants on the island, and also due to the news that chicken and burgers, which cannot be enjoyed during the time when ferry service is suspended, have been delivered to Biyangdo by flying in the sky.

On this day, it took about 3 minutes and 30 seconds for a drone carrying chicken to travel to Biyangdo from Geumneung-ri, Hallim-eup, Jeju, the main island. Each drone was loaded with two fried chickens or four burgers. Residents of Biyangdo were amazed, saying, "I've lived for a long time and experienced such a strange thing," "I hope I live in such a good world for a long time," and "I want to order chicken for my grandchildren next time they come to visit." An official from Jeju Island explained, "We delivered eight chicken and eight handmade hamburgers several times over 40 minutes by drone on this day."

Jeju Island announced on July 8 that it would start delivering goods by drone to Gapado and Marado in the middle of this month, starting with Biyangdo on the 3rd. The service will be available every Thursday and Friday in Biyangdo, and every Wednesday and Friday in Gapado and Marado. The drone delivery service of goods will be available from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., which is a logistically vulnerable time when ships are not operating.

The main island delivers daily necessities to the neighboring islands and they deliver specialties, such as seafood collected by residents, to the main island. Depending on the distance from the main island and the characteristics of drones, low-weight household items up to 3 kilograms can be delivered to Biyangdo and Marado, and high-weight goods up to 15 kilograms to Gapado.

Residents or tourists can call the drone delivery call center in Geumneung-ri and Sangmo-ri, or order the items they need through the app, or apply for reverse delivery. In Bidangdo, people can order and receive food and goods from 10 stores in Geumneung-ri, including chicken, pizza, and burger stores, convenience stores, and supermarkets. In Marado, people can order food and goods from four stores, including chicken stores and supermarkets in Sangmo-ri. Drone delivery is free for the first month and residents will have to pay 3,000 won for the next month. The cost for tourists using the service is also being calculated.

Jeju Island is aiming to commercialize the drone delivery service next year after conducting it as a pilot project this year. However, it plans to actively promote the service to residents and tourists, as creating demand is the key.

Jeju Island has been designated as a special liberalization zone for drones and has also been selected as a drone demonstration city. This year, drones are being used to deliver goods to neighboring islands and to analyze weather conditions on Urban Air Mobility (UAM) routes. Wired drones will also be used to monitor accidents and crime prevention at the Waterbomb event where crowds are expected to be concentrated on July 13.

"We expect drones to play a big role in improving the convenience of life for residents on the islands," said Yang Je-yoon, director of Jeju Island’s Innovation Industry Bureau. "We plan to develop the drone delivery service into a sustainable business by enhancing the app and increasing the number of delivery items.”

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.