A 15-Minute Flight Connecting the Mainland to Ischia: Cargo Drones Open New Frontiers for Medical Transport
Ensuring the rapid transport of blood and biological material to islands can be a complex challenge. Maritime connections are often the only available option, but journey times, adverse weather conditions and potential infrastructure disruptions can make it difficult to ensure the required speed, particularly in emergency situations.
Traditional air transport provides a faster alternative, but requires dedicated aircraft, such as helicopters or fixed-wing aircraft, with high operating costs that limit their systematic use and long-term sustainability. Against this backdrop, a recent demonstration mission supported by Unifly Compliance in Italy enabled a drone to transport biomedical material from the Flegrean mainland to Ischia in just 15 minutes, reaching the Rizzoli Hospital in Lacco Ameno.
Conducted as part of the Aetos project, the test demonstrates how drones can help reduce the time, constraints and costs associated with transport to islands. However, for such applications to evolve into stable and repeatable operational services, technological innovation must be supported by careful operational planning and an appropriate regulatory and authorisation pathway.
The Aetos test was carried out within the area under the responsibility of ASL Napoli 2 Nord, through the collaboration of Unmanned4you, FlyingBasket, ASL Napoli 2 Nord and the municipalities of Bacoli and Casamicciola Terme, with Unifly Consulting providing support on operational planning, risk analysis and the authorisation process.
The mission demonstrated the potential of using a cargo drone to rapidly transport blood, biological material and other medical supplies from the mainland to Ischia, reaching Rizzoli Hospital in Lacco Ameno in just 15 minutes. The system developed by FlyingBasket, designed to carry payloads of up to 100 kg, offers particularly interesting capabilities in contexts where traditional transport is subject to logistical or time constraints.
Potential applications are not limited to the transport of biological material. In emergency scenarios, drones of this type could also be used to transport medical equipment, spare parts, technical supplies and other materials required by healthcare facilities.
The project is therefore now moving beyond the individual demonstration, with the aim of turning these trials into a stable and repeatable service. This involves validating the operational procedures, identifying the most effective ways of managing missions, training personnel and addressing all the elements required to integrate the service into existing ground processes.
For island territories such as Ischia, this could pave the way for a new form of connectivity that does not necessarily replace existing infrastructure, but can complement it by providing an additional option when speed and continuity of transport become particularly important.
Unifly Consulting: Putting Safety and Regulation at the Heart of Drone-Based Medical Transport
A technological achievement of this kind cannot be assessed solely in terms of drone performance. When a UAS is deployed for a real-world operation, particularly in a complex scenario such as transport between the mainland and an island, all aspects related to operational safety and regulatory compliance must also be considered.
This is precisely where Unifly Consulting supported Unmanned4you within the Aetos project, contributing to the process required to turn the operational concept into an operation that could be effectively planned and authorised.
The support focused in particular on defining the Operational Concept, conducting the risk analysis and liaising with the competent authorities, with the aim of identifying and addressing the risks associated with the operational scenario.
As Marco Ducci, Uniflly Consulting Director, explains, the value of projects such as Aetos lies in their ability to advance technological innovation and safety hand in hand. The development of new UAS services requires regulatory and safety considerations to be addressed from the earliest stages of the design process, creating the conditions for operations that are not only innovative, but also safe, sustainable and repeatable.
From this perspective, the authorisation process is not merely a formal requirement, but an essential component in the development of a new service. It makes it possible to assess the operational scenario, identify the associated risks and define the framework needed to manage them and bring technological innovation into a real-world environment.
From the Aeolian Islands to Ischia: A Path Towards New UAS Services
The Aetos project is part of a broader journey in which Unifly Consulting (operating in Italy as EuroUSC Italia) has already supported some of the most advanced drone-based transport applications in Italy.
A significant example is the collaboration with ABzero on medical transport by drone. In 2024, during the Mediterranean Aerospace Matching, a demonstration mission connected Grottaglie Airport with the port of Taranto along a 17 km route, covered in approximately 21 minutes. Conducted in BVLOS conditions and along an ENAC-authorised route, the mission demonstrated how a UAS can be integrated with existing infrastructure and conventional transport modes to enable the rapid delivery of medical material.
The same journey continued with an even more significant achievement: in July 2024, a 37 km route between Patti Hospital and the Aeolian Islands was authorised for the transport of urgent medicines and blood components. Once again, Unifly Consulting supported ABzero in analysing the operation, defining procedures and conducting the risk assessment in accordance with the SORA methodology, contributing to the authorisation process for a scenario characterised by significant geographical and operational complexity.
Unifly Consulting’s experience also extends to more complex scenarios, such as those addressed by the European Di-Pegasus project, coordinated by the company. The project explores new technologies and operational models for managing drone fleets and other forms of air mobility, addressing aspects including safety, sustainability, economic feasibility and regulatory compliance.
In addition, a new European project is about to begin, with Unifly Consulting playing a key role alongside San Raffaele Hospital, ABzero and the Metropolitan City of Milan. Within the Milan Living Lab of the IAM-CC project, services for transporting blood, biological samples, medicines and other critical medical materials between healthcare facilities will be tested. The ambition goes beyond demonstrating UAS capabilities: the objective is to understand how such services can become an integral part of the healthcare system and future urban mobility in a sustainable, safe and socially accepted way.
Together, these projects illustrate a significant evolution: from initial tests on individual routes to increasingly longer and more complex connections, and ultimately towards the development of integrated UAS services and fleet operations.
Beyond Demonstration: Towards New UAS Services
The flight to Ischia therefore represents another step in this evolution. The ability to connect the mainland to an island in just 15 minutes demonstrates how cargo drones can contribute to rethinking logistics in contexts where time, cost, distance and accessibility represent significant challenges. The real challenge now is to turn these capabilities into continuous operational services, integrated into existing processes and capable of ensuring appropriate levels of safety, reliability and compliance over time.
This is the direction in which the Aetos project is moving: using technology not simply to demonstrate that a flight is possible, but to build the technical, operational and regulatory conditions required for that flight to become part of a real service.
For Unifly Consulting, this means acting at the intersection of technological innovation, regulatory requirements and operational implementation, supporting operators and stakeholders in turning new ideas into concrete, safe and scalable UAS operations.
For more information, please visit the website at unifly.aero or contact us at info.consulting@unifly.aero
