Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.'s online food delivery subsidiary Ele.me has launched a drone delivery service, the first of its kind approved by the Chinese government, financial news service Jiemian reported May 30, citing the company.
Ele.me has a total of 17 drone routes, all of which are located within the rurally located Shanghai Jinshan Industrial Park, according to the report. The routes cover commercial districts, office buildings and residential communities in a 58-square-kilometer area, and there are plans to extend the service to also cover schools sometime between August and October.
Each route reportedly will have three to four flights per day, with each trip covering 2.2 kilometers on average and carrying up to 10 kilograms.
Ele.me said its drone delivery service is now available for about 100 restaurants, including Starbucks Corp. Customers can receive orders within 20 minutes of placing them.
