On the 18th, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism announced that it had approved five grants for the "Drone Delivery Hub Development Promotion Project Subsidy" for fiscal year 2025.
The five applicants who received grant approval are ANA Holdings, Nishikyu Transport & Warehouse, Nakatsu Express, Ryomo Maruzen, and HMK Nexus.
The subsidies aim to promote the social implementation of drone logistics in areas facing shortages of transporters, such as remote islands and mountainous regions. The goal is to maintain local logistics networks during normal times and secure alternative transportation methods during disasters. The subsidies support initiatives in which local governments and logistics companies collaborate to combine land transport, including trucks, with drone delivery. The total amount of grants approved for the five projects is approximately 98 million yen.
In a project where ANA Holdings is the applicant, a phase-free drone utilization business model will be developed in Okinawa Prefecture based on demonstration flights tailored to use cases such as "transportation of blood products," "transportation of pharmaceuticals," and "utilization in times of disaster."
In a project where Nishikyu Dai Transport & Warehouse is the applicant, they plan to develop a hub-and-spoke type distribution center utilizing drones and EV vehicles in the mountainous area of Ukiha City, Fukuoka Prefecture, with the aim of stabilizing the infrastructure for daily life in sparsely populated areas and building a sustainable logistics model through shopping support.
