Watch: This drone will deliver your Talabat food orders soon in UAE

Abu Dhabi is preparing to launch drone-powered food deliveries through the Talabat app — with test flights already taking place and the first customer orders expected within weeks.

“With the Talabat app, you can order your groceries and food — the drone will come from the Talabat kitchen or the restaurant to the drop-off station — we call it the DOS,” said Waleed Al Blooshi, vice president of Strategy at K2 - an Abu Dhabi Government-owned advanced technology company.  

For now, two drones are undergoing trials at DriftX — the exhibition featuring smart, autonomous, and sustainable urban mobility during the Abu Dhabi Autonomous Week at Yas Marina Circuit. “This is just a testing base; with a collaboration with Talabat, we will grow more.”

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He added that the agreement with Talabat will be formally signed during DriftX, after which operations are expected to begin quickly. “At K2, we work fast pace, so we need just less than 45 days, and we can do it."

How it works

Once launched, customers will be able to order food through the Talabat app and have it delivered by drone to a designated drop-off station. “For now, we have a drop-off station and we will locate drop-off stations throughout Abu Dhabi,” said Al Blooshi. “Till now, we didn’t study landing on houses or apartments, so it’s mostly we will have lots of drop-off stations allocated in the city.”

Waleed Al Blooshi

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Customers will receive their order using a code. “There will be just a code, a QR code or a password,” he said. “It’s equipped, it has even a password, it’s secure, and you can get your food without getting it damaged.”

Built for UAE conditions

The packaging has been designed to withstand local weather. “It’s not only about the drones, but the packaging even, so we customise the packaging to fit all of the humidity and the heat and temperature,” Al Blooshi explained. The current test drones have a payload capacity of 10 to 20 kilogrammes and a range of five to ten kilometres. “This is just for the POC phase; Of course, we can make it larger, we can make it go further, but we just need to do more tests.”

K2 has already been testing autonomous ground deliveries with Noon. “We are working with Noon, autonomous delivery, but ground — from the Noon warehouse in KEZAD to Al Raha Beach,” Al Blooshi said. “That’s our first POC, and they will expand more, but that’s only on land.” The partnership with Talabat marks the company’s first aerial delivery project. “This would be the first time for food delivery or grocery delivery,” he said.

The future of delivery

The goal is to make drone delivery a viable part of Abu Dhabi’s logistics ecosystem. “After DriftX, we’ll test with ITC Abu Dhabi Mobility at their headquarters and they will give the approvals and regulations,” Al Blooshi said.

Security and airspace coordination are key parts of the rollout. “The first challenge is the air control,” he noted. “We have been talking with the GCAA, the federal air authority, and see how we can manage, because not all drones can pass by and there are regulations. But I believe Abu Dhabi will make it happen.”

While costs remain under study, Al Blooshi said drone delivery is the future. “Autonomy is the future; if it’s air, land, or sea — robotics will happen everywhere. So I think everybody will get used to it and it will be much easier for them.”

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