Published : 2025-03-27
On March 27, 2018, a subsidiary of SF Express was awarded China's first drone aviation operation licence.
On that day, the licence awarding ceremony for the drone aviation operation licence was held in Shangrao, Jiangxi Province.
The East China Regional Administration of the Civil Aviation Administration of China awarded China's first drone aviation operation (pilot) licence to Jiangxi Fengyu Shuntu Technology Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of SF Express, allowing SF Express's logistics drones to conduct commercial operations within designated authorised airspaces.
The issuance of the first licence marks a major innovation in the expansion of drone application fields, as well as the integration of traditional air freight and new drone business models, signifying that China has officially entered a new stage of drone transportation.
The acquisition of the first operation licence also elevates SF Express to become the leading domestic logistics drone company.
As early as 2012, SF Express proposed the concept of drone logistics, hoping to achieve a 36-hour nationwide logistics network through a three-stage air transport chain of "large manned transport aircraft + large trunk route drones + small last-mile drones".
It is reported that since the pilot work of drone logistics distribution began in June 2017, SF Express has successfully completed the stages of preparation, initiation, implementation, and approval, reaching the pilot stage, becoming the first logistics drone operation enterprise approved by the civil aviation management department in China.
The legalisation of drone logistics commercial operations means that the last-mile delivery stage of SF Express's envisioned "three-stage air transport network" has begun to enter the commercial operation stage.
