Overview

• A drone operated by ANWB Medical Air Assistance completed the inaugural cargo run between Meppel and Zwolle carrying blood samples and medicines in roughly 15–20 minutes at about 100 km/h.
• The one-year pilot brings together Isala, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, LVNL, KPN and ANWB/MAA under a temporary airspace corridor that permits beyond-visual-line-of-sight operations.
• Researchers will compare drone delivery with road transport and track vibration and temperature effects to confirm that flight conditions do not compromise sample quality.
• Flights are remotely controlled and currently touch down in a field near the Zwolle site, with the aim of moving to hospital platforms to shorten handoffs.
• Authorities will evaluate the results after a year to decide on additional corridors between Dutch hospitals, a pathway the minister suggests could later extend more broadly.