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Pizza delivery by drone 'trialled' in New Zealand

Not quite autonomous food-flinging, mind

Multinational pizza megacorp Domino's claims it is trialling pizza delivery drones in New Zealand.

In partnership with quadcopter delivery business Flirtey, Domino's demonstrated the service in Auckland today, in complete compliance with New Zealand's civil aviation regulation.

The publicity stunt managed to attract the attendance of the kiwi transport minister, Simon Bridges, alongside representatives of the Civil Aviation Authority.

New Zealand, almost uniquely among Anglophone nations, has allowed commercial drone deliveries, and Australia is set to follow suit next month, though drones in Oz will have to keep 30 feet away from houses at all times.

Bridges spoke positively about the demonstration, highlighting New Zealand's "enabling laws and regulation".

Those regulations are not completely enabling, however. As Reuters reported, the drones need to be kept within line-of-sight at all times, borking the idea of autonomous delivery 'copters flinging pizzas around towns to order.

In March of this year the antipodean franchise of the 'za corporations announced a four-wheeled delivery droid was being trialled, although a lot of regulation stood between its testing and its actual deployment for commercial purposes. ®

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