Domino’s is attempting to be the first company in the world to offer a regular commercial drone delivery service after conducting a successful demonstration in New Zealand this week.

Pizza maker Domino’s has joined forces with US-based drone delivery company, Flirtey, and is now looking at opportunities to make pizza drone deliveries a reality.

Domino’s Group CEO and managing director, Don Meij said the company’s growth over the past few years had led to a significant increase in the number of deliveries and that the company is constantly looking for innovative and futuristic ways to deliver pizzas to customers. Last year alone, the company sold $1.964 billion worth of pizzas.

“With the increased number of deliveries we make each year, we were faced with the challenge of ensuring our delivery times continue to decrease and that we strive to offer our customers new and progressive ways of ordering from us.

“Research into different delivery methods led us to Flirtey. Their success within the airborne delivery space has been impressive and it’s something we have wanted to offer our customers,” Meij says.

The use of drones as a delivery method is designed to work alongside Domino’s current delivery fleet and will be fully integrated into online ordering and GPS systems. The drones will fly at speeds of 30km/h, 60 metres in the air to avoid power lines, and will initially only fly 1.5km from the pizza store, though Domino’s expects to increase that distance to 10km.

“Domino’s is all about providing customers with choice and making customer’s lives easier. Adding innovation such as drone deliveries means customers can experience cutting-edge technology and the convenience of having their Supreme pizza delivered via air to their door. This is the future,” adds Meij.

But Australians have to wait their turn as the drone deliveries will take place in New Zealand first due to the country’s more “forward-thinking” drone laws.

Flirtey CEO Matt Sweeny says, “Launching the first commercial drone delivery service in the world is a landmark achievement for Flirtey and Domino’s, heralding a new frontier of on-demand delivery for customers across New Zealand and around the globe. New Zealand has the most forward-thinking aviation regulations in the world, and with our new partnership with the leader in pizza delivery worldwide, Domino’s, we are uniquely positioned to bring the same revolutionary drone delivery service to customers globally.”

Australia’s turn will be next as Domino’s looks at further expansion opportunities here and five other markets – Belgium, France, The Netherlands, Japan and Germany. Bring on the flying pepperonis!