Fresh matsutake mushrooms take the "Air Express" to fly out of the deep mountains, while the "Air Air Intermodal Transport" helps Chongqing Wushan crispy plums to quickly leave the Three Gorges Reservoir area and drink a cup of coffee delivered by drones by the Great Wall... Since the beginning of this year, drones have flown to fields, remote mountainous areas, city buildings, and rivers, becoming a new carrier of logistics transportation. The 15th Five Year Plan proposes to accelerate the development of strategic emerging industry clusters such as new energy, new materials, aerospace, and low altitude economy. Improve the industrial ecosystem, implement large-scale application demonstration actions for new technologies, new products, and new scenarios, and accelerate the scale development of emerging industries. Low altitude logistics is an important component of the low altitude economy. How is its application situation? What opportunities and challenges does industrial development face? The reporter conducted an interview. Last year, over 140 new low altitude logistics routes were opened for application acceleration. At noon, during the peak dining season at Yangpu Garden in Shanghai's Internet Treasure Land, drones were busy taking off and landing above the food lockers. I ordered a cup of milk tea, which is over 4 kilometers away and delivered in less than 10 minutes. It's very convenient! "Said Ms. Wang, who works in the park. In response to the real-time delivery challenges in certain regions, Shanghai has partnered with Meituan to establish a low altitude logistics model of "instant response+precise airdrop". Three delivery routes cover surrounding universities and parks, achieving delivery within 15 minutes. In recent years, low altitude logistics has been increasingly widely used in various regions. In Suzhou Industrial Park, Jiangsu Province, the semiconductor analysis and testing drone sample line recently achieved its maiden flight. In less than an hour, the samples were transported directly to the enterprise laboratory by drone, meeting the high requirements of customers for timeliness in the research and development process. In Guiya Village, Jiuwanxi Town, Zigui, Hubei Province, drones have become "orange carrying passengers", accelerating the descent of navel oranges and reducing the time required to transport 2000 kilograms of navel oranges from 3 hours to 10 minutes. A low altitude logistics commercial route has been established between Shenzhen and Zhongshan in Guangdong Province, creating an "air deep to medium channel". After placing an order through the mini program, users can achieve "cross city delivery" of small and medium-sized urgent items within an average of 3 hours. Over the past year, cross city air routes such as "Shenzhen Zhongshan", "Shenzhen Zhuhai", and "Shenzhen Dongguan" have been continuously "updated" in Guangdong, and a low altitude logistics network has accelerated its formation in the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area. As of now, SF Express Fengyi drones fly thousands of flights per day in the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area, with a transportation volume of over 20000 orders. From a single line to a network, from "niche pilot" to "mass experience", low altitude logistics has gradually entered production and life, and has been applied in multiple fields such as express delivery, agricultural product transportation, and medical material transportation. In 2024, China will open over 140 new low altitude logistics routes, with urban routes accounting for 90% of the total number of new routes. The low altitude logistics industry in China is mainly concentrated in the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area, the Yangtze River Delta, the Beijing Tianjin Hebei region, and the Sichuan Chongqing region, while other regions focus on scenario applications. ”Dong Zhiyi, Chief Expert of Low Altitude Economy at the Chinese Aeronautical Society, introduced that the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area and the Yangtze River Delta have relatively developed economies and rich application scenarios; The Beijing Tianjin Hebei region has strong innovation capabilities and significant technology spillover effects; The Sichuan Chongqing region relies on its manufacturing and airspace advantages to promote resource sharing and cooperation. The 2024 China Low altitude Logistics Development Report shows that the market size of low altitude logistics is showing a high-speed growth trend, expected to reach 120 billion to 150 billion yuan this year, and is expected to climb to 450 billion to 605 billion yuan by 2035. Utilizing its advantages to meet the short distance transportation needs of high timeliness, small batch, and high value-added goods, it only takes 10 minutes to transport 7 kilometers. The first air logistics route in Jinan, Shandong has increased efficiency by more than 60% compared to land transportation; The transportation time has been reduced from 1 hour to 8 minutes, and the use of drones to transport Wushan crispy plums has made "placing an order today, seeing the plums tomorrow" a reality... The development of e-commerce and instant logistics has stimulated consumers' demand for fast delivery and personalized logistics services, and promoted the release of demand in the low altitude logistics market. ”Yan Yan, the head of public affairs for Meituan's unmanned aerial vehicles, introduced that unmanned aerial vehicle delivery can effectively reduce the risk of changes in road traffic on delivery time. For products such as fried buns and hot coffee that require high delivery time, unmanned aerial vehicles can increase efficiency by more than twice compared to traditional road delivery. Compared to traditional logistics models, drones also have cost advantages. Taking the Zhongtong Haiyan series electric six rotor unmanned aerial vehicle as an example, its total lifecycle cost is 85800 yuan, which can complete the transportation of 75000 packages, with a single transportation cost of 1.14 yuan. Based on the industry average single unit cost of 1.85 yuan, it is about 40% lower than traditional logistics models. Wang Qi, the project leader of Zhongtong UAV, said that with the large-scale operation and the launch of exclusive product services, logistics costs are expected to be further reduced. SF Fengyi unmanned aerial vehicles cover various terrains, and JD Logistics has launched multi rotor intelligent logistics unmanned aerial vehicles... The technology and products have been continuously updated, improving the reliability and efficiency of low altitude logistics, and also showing people the broad prospects of industrial development. Chen Xiaohui, the administrative director of Fengyi UAV, believes that leveraging the efficient and flexible characteristics of drones in low altitude logistics can not only solve the problem of "inability to deliver and poor delivery" in traditional transportation modes, but also help enterprises shift from price competition to value competition. By coordinating drones with ground vehicles, a smart delivery network covering urban and rural areas will be built, which will better promote the solution to the 'last mile' delivery problem. ”The relevant person in charge of the National Post Office stated. Not long ago, the Implementation Opinions on "Artificial Intelligence+Transportation" clearly proposed to encourage the development and application of new aircraft industry, promote the development of low altitude civil aviation, which provides new opportunities for the development of low altitude logistics. Challenges still exist in infrastructure construction and low altitude safety governance, and industry insiders believe that China's low altitude logistics is still in its early stages, and there are still urgent problems to be solved in low altitude "high" flights. Infrastructure is the prerequisite guarantee for the development of low altitude logistics. The large-scale commercial use of drone delivery relies on efficient coordination and smooth operation of multiple links such as order scheduling, cargo loading and unloading, route planning, and meteorological monitoring. "Wang Qi said that logistics enterprises are not only delivery service providers but also infrastructure builders, with large initial investment and facing the problem of redundant construction. Some enterprises use scenario expansion to promote technological iteration and cost reduction, gradually exploring more mature business models. We are diluting infrastructure investment in the rapid increase of drone delivery business, and achieving a break even point in cross city business. "Chen Xiaohui said that the low altitude logistics network is being replicated and promoted from the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area to the Yangtze River Delta region, and hopes that relevant departments can promote low altitude data interconnection and regulate radio interference. Enterprises continue to call for more open airspace resources. The speed of urban airspace opening and the degree of refined management affect the willingness of enterprises to invest in industries, "Yan Yan said. The policy pilot has broken the airspace restrictions, and the company has successively opened multiple new air routes to achieve air distribution between densely populated buildings in the city. It is recommended that all regions orderly promote airspace management and flight activity approval, establish intelligent air traffic management systems, and promote the full release of low altitude resources. But the openness of airspace resources relies on a higher level of safety. Safety is the lifeline of the development of low altitude logistics. Dong Zhiyi believes that we should accelerate the construction of a prudent and inclusive low altitude safety governance system, and explore innovation on the basis of ensuring safety and stability. Many companies continuously improve product design in practice, using security redundancy to cope with complex environments and support the expansion of application scenarios. In terms of hardware, the multi rotor design ensures normal flight and is equipped with parachutes to handle emergencies; In terms of software, automatic parachute opening programs are implanted into drones, and the function of autonomously finding alternate landing points along the route is set up... "Low altitude economy is an industry that requires patient cultivation, and it is a long run before the industry takes off. ”Dong Zhiyi stated that enterprises need to have a long-term vision, focus on technological innovation, product iteration, and scenario expansion, and make low altitude consumption more popular faster; At the same time, relevant departments also need to plan scientifically and reasonably, follow market laws, and ensure the sustainable development of the industry in a safe and orderly manner. (New Society)