Aussie postal service to trial drones for mail delivery

Drones will soon be used to help deliver mail to rural Australians, the head of the nation's postal service announced on Wednesday.

Australia Post chief executive officer Ahmed Fahour has revealed the privately-owned company is looking at a number of drones which would be used by a postman to deliver mail to rural properties, increasing efficiency through saving time and petrol costs.

Tens of thousands of Australians live at remote farms throughout the nation, and many properties are built at the end of driveways kilometers in length, and Fahour said the trial would improve the mail delivery service for rural customers, as drivers would stop at the start of a driveway and deliver the mail to the doorstep of the property by drone.

As a result, postmen would not have to drive up a driveway only to double back after delivery. Instead, they would park on the main road, deliver the mail and continue on their route.

Farhour said Australia Post would trial drones in the delivery system "later this year".

"I know there are some retailers right now that we're working with, and I'm hoping later this year we're going to do some trials," Fahour told the Australian Financial Review Business Summit on Wednesday.

He said as mail was becoming a dying method of communication, Australia Post would be "mad" not to research innovative new ways to remain profitable.

"The reality is that anybody who doesn't believe that technology is going to fundamentally change the way we do business in this country is mad," he said.

Last year, Australia Post recorded its first net loss in more than 30 years. The company posted a loss of 165 million U.S dollars, down from a 2014 profit of around 86 million U.S dollars.

Earlier this year and in an effort to jump back into profitability, the company raised the price of sending a letter within Australia from 70 Australian cents (52 U.S cents) up to one Australian dollar (74 U.S cents). Endit