Matternet, the developer of the leading urban drone delivery platform, has announced that it has received approval from the Luftfahrt-Bundesamt (LBA), Germany’s Federal Aviation Office, to operate the Matternet M2 drone delivery platform beyond the visual line of sight (BVLOS) in the heart of Berlin. This marks the beginning of Berlin’s first-ever BVLOS drone delivery network.
Labor Berlin, Europe’s largest hospital laboratory, provides diagnostics for 30 hospitals with more than 24,000 beds, including Charitรฉ, the largest university hospital in Europe and Vivantes, the largest municipal hospital group in Berlin. Labor Berlin handles more than 6 million lab samples per year from satellite laboratories across Berlin in its central lab. The drone delivery network aims to connect Labor Berlin’s central lab to affiliated hospitals for ultra-fast delivery of critical samples in the densely populated city. When fully operational, the network will serve millions of patients a year. Operations will formally begin early next year following clearance on a federal state level.
“Healthcare systems need a fast, reliable and cost-effective solution to transport lab samples and pharmacy items to ensure patients receive best-in-class care,” said Andreas Raptopoulos, Founder and CEO of Matternet. “We are extremely excited to partner with Labor Berlin, Europe’s largest hospital laboratory, to create the first city-wide healthcare network in the capital of Germany and bring the benefits of drone delivery to the citizens of Berlin.”
The drone delivery network will target emergency diagnostics and will increase operational efficiency as well as cut down on carbon emissions from the nearly 250,000 miles per day that cars travel within the city.