Pie in the sky

Pizza Hut Israel to trial drone deliveries this summer

Restaurant chain will use mini-aircraft to deliver batches of orders to drivers, who will then bring the food to customers’ homes

Illustrative. Pizza. (Yossi Zamir/Flash90)
Illustrative. Pizza. (Yossi Zamir/Flash90)

Pizza Hut Israel will try delivering pizzas by drone this summer, kind of.

The restaurant chain will have drones deliver several orders together to landing zones, where drivers will pick them up and then bring them to individual customers.

The landing zones will be approved by the government and located in spaces such as parking lots. The trial is set to begin in June, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

Dragontail Systems Ltd., a restaurant tech firm based in Australia, will manage the drone trial with Pizza Hut Israel.

“Drone delivery is a sexy thing to talk about, but it’s not realistic to think we’re going to see drones flying all over the sky dropping pizzas into everyone’s backyards anytime soon,” said Dragontail’s Ido Levanon.

The Transportation Ministry is allowing Pizza Hut to trial the drone deliveries from only one restaurant in Bnei Dror in central Israel. The deliveries will be limited to a specified zone of around 50 square miles and will be capped at a relatively low weight, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The aircraft will allow the restaurant to reach 7,000 more households than usual. The system of delivering batches of orders by air will reduce the numbers of drones needed and the amount of battery charging required, the report said.

The drones will not drop off their deliveries until they recognize the presence of a driver in order to prevent pizza thievery, the report said.

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