Guizhou's first low-altitude drone route for drug delivery opened in Guiyang, capital of Southwest China's Guizhou province, on Jan 15.

The drone model is Phoenix Ark 40, which has a wingspan of 2.4 meters, a payload capacity of 10 kilograms, and a flight range of 20 km. It is suitable for short to medium-distance end-to-end delivery services and is capable of various delivery methods, including lowering, dropping, ground loading, and unloading.

 The Phoenix Ark 40 drone. [Photo/WeChat account of Zhizhi Guiyang]

Phoenix Wings is a technology company under SF Express Group that focuses on logistics drones. By the end of 2024, it had opened more than 600 routes nationwide, with its drones transporting over 6.6 million items with a total weight of nearly 3,300 metric tons and flying nearly 5.8 million kilometers in total. Its drones have been widely applied in urban express logistics, transportation in special geographical environments, transportation of medical supplies, and other low-altitude services.

Drone delivery can reduce transportation time by more than half, significantly reducing labor costs and mitigating safety hazards such as traffic accidents. Moving forward, Phoenix Wings will expand the its drones' uses, transporting goods such as fresh food and high-end products and offering more convenient and efficient express logistics services.