They come topped with pepperoni, chicken tikka or vegetarian. But a
flying variety may soon be found on Indian pizza menus, after an
outlet in Mumbai said it had successfully delivered by
drone.
Staff at Francesco's Pizzeria in south Mumbai were inspired by the
news that online retail giant Amazon was planning to use unmanned
drones to deliver goods, and decided to try one out as a means to
beat the city's notorious traffic.
"We successfully carried out a test delivery by sending a pizza to
a customer located 1.5 kilometre away from our outlet on May 11,"
Francesco's Pizzeria chief executive Mikhel Rajani told the Press
Trust of India (PTI) news agency.
"What we have done now will be common place in the next four to
five years," he said, adding that the customised four-rotor drones
each cost around $2,000.
The company posted a video of the delivery on YouTube, which shows
the drone carrying the pizza box over shops, cricketers and the
coastline of the financial capital before landing on a high-rise
rooftop.
Rajani believes the test will lead the way to a cheaper and quicker
service than their usual two-wheelers can provide by road.
He said there were some snags however, such as batteries running
out after eight kilometres and drones being banned from flying over
security establishments.
Mumbai police said they would be seeking an explanation from the
pizza firm as to why they were not informed about the test run.
"As per norms, permission must be taken for flying any such
object," said Additional Police Commissioner Madhukar Pandey.
"We are very sensitive towards anything that flies in the sky with
the help of remote control," he told PTI.
It is thought to be the first time a drone has found such a use in
India, although the UK arm of Domino's Pizza posted a YouTube video
last year showing the "Domino's DomiCopter" apparently doing a test
delivery.
The full video from Mumbai can be
viewed here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=0if2PM60BrI
