Page 145 - 7X PR REPORT - AUGUST 2025

If Lulu or some of the other major-league names in the UAE retail sector take to drone-based
deliveries, it opens up more possibilities how services can be delivered to customers. And how
quickly this can reach them.
Keeta Drone launches in Dubai Silicon Oasis

It was December last year that China’s Keeta Drone confirmed it has become the first recipient of
UAE’s Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) license, which allows drone deliveries.

These deliveries are only meant for within Dubai Silicon Oasis. The company’s drones have a
coverage radius of 2.9 kilometres.

“The delivery fee for each order is Dh9.5 - with no additional charges compared to traditional
delivery methods in DSO,” said a Keeta Drone spokesperson. “The minimum spend per order is set
by merchant (partners) and remains consistent with (those for) traditional delivery. We do not
disclose future pricing plans at this time.

“In collaboration with the Dubai government, we are exploring possibilities to expand our service
coverage. We expect consumers and brand partners in more areas to soon experience our
services.”

Can drone deliveries be profitable?

In the UAE, Q-commerce (quick-commerce) services have established themselves as a major
component of the wider e-commerce space. These provide delivery for customers within a 15- to
30- minute window, with all the major ecommerce marketplaces and delivery companies
competing in this.

Drones will thus add another layer to how fast deliveries can happen, of course, within well-defined
areas of operations. And chances are that there will be many UAE consumers who will like the
sheer novelty of having their orders delivered by drones – and not mind paying a certain extra for it.

But for the operators themselves, such services need to be seen as likely to be profitable before
they commit investments.
“The last-mile delivery costs are significant while consumers want convenience,” said Sandeep
Ganediwalla, regional Partner at the Redseer consultancy.

“So, drones offer a good soltuon to delivery at high speeds irrespective of the road traffic. And as
their scale increases with higher use, costs will go down. So there is excitement.

“However, the industry is very nascent and regulations are still being developed.”
Commercial delivery via drone

Drone options are not just for grocery delivery. In Abu Dhabi, the aviation-tech firm LODD partnered
7X launched the first pilot flight for autonomous drone parcel deliveries in the emirate. This was
done through their logistics and express delivery arm EMX and with the active support of ADIO (Abu
Dhabi Investment Office).

https://gulfnews.com/business/retail/are-uaes-leading-supermarket-operators-getting-ready-for-
drone-delivery-1.500250880