Amazon has been promising drone package delivery for a while, but the British Post Office is doing it.

This exercise has a certain experimental feel about it, with the remote Orkney Islands to the north of Scotland as its testing ground. Not exactly a high-rise urban environment, but a good start.

Brazilian drone manufacturer Speedbird Aero is working with operator Skyports Drone Services and Orkney I-Port, a partnership involving Royal Mail, the Orkney Islands Council Harbour Authority and regional carrier Loganair. Together they will conduct a three-month inter-island parcel delivery service trial. Speedbird’s DLV-2 cargo drones will be able to operate often in weather that confines the normal ferry services to harbour.

It will be easy to extend the trial period if necessary, because it is being carried out under existing regulations permitting extended visual line of sight operations.

Skyports has also been carrying out operations with California-based UAV maker Pyka using its Pelican Cargo electrically powered, fixed wing autonomous cargo drones.