Medical logistics is an important area in the everyday life of a hospital. It ensures that materials such as syringes and swabs are available in sufficient quantities on the wards, or that blood transfusions are available to patients in the blood group they need. All these medical supplies are regularly delivered to the hospitals in large quantities by trucks and vans. But sometimes something important may be missing – such as an urgently needed medicine. This then has to be hurried by courier to where it is needed.

As part of a test phase, unmanned flights are to take place regularly between several hospitals and laboratories in the Hamburg city area, transporting medical goods such as medicines, laboratory and tissue samples. Hamburg is the world’s third largest civil aviation location and has a lot of expertise on board, which is bundled in the Medifly project team. At the same time, as a metropolis with an inner-city airport and a broad network of hospitals, Hamburg is both challenging and relevant as a “testing ground” for the future use of drone technologies in urban spaces.