AI-driven flight planning boosts medical drone deliveries in remote Africa

AerialMetric, a Madagascan medical drone delivery operator, has partnered with Shearwater Aerospace to expand access to life-saving medical supplies across the country’s most isolated regions. The collaboration is aimed at overcoming persistent challenges in beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drone operations – particularly in areas where weather and terrain conditions fluctuate dramatically.

“The integration of Shearwater’s technology directly addresses some of our most pressing operational challenges,” said Pierre-Loup Lesage, CEO of AerialMetric. “Manual BVLOS planning is increasingly time-consuming and often leads to highly variable route performance – with flights that succeed one day but are grounded the next.”

Since launching in 2020, AerialMetric has built one of sub-Saharan Africa’s busiest drone-based medical logistics networks. To date, the company has completed more than 10,000 flights, delivering over 10 tons of vital supplies to 1,000+ health facilities. In 2024 alone, nearly 3,000 long-range missions were flown – some exceeding 200km – through extreme heat, rain, high winds, and altitudes reaching 1,700m.

At the core of this new partnership is Shearwater’s Smart Flight platform, an AI-powered tool that enables safe, scalable BVLOS operations by leveraging real-time regional weather data, predictive energy modelling, and built-in safety protocols. The system creates regulatory-approved flight paths that avoid populated areas and adapt dynamically to changing flight conditions.

“By embedding real-time weather analysis and energy forecasting directly into our flight planning, Smart Flight allows us to deliver more consistently, scale with greater confidence, and strengthen regulatory trust as we expand our life-saving logistics network across Africa,” Lesage added.

Before takeoff, Smart Flight ensures weather and energy conditions align with operational and legal parameters. In flight, it actively monitors risk and guides crews on whether to continue, divert, or return to base.

The technology will also support AerialMetric’s expansion into the Democratic Republic of Congo – another region marked by extreme weather and rugged terrain.

“Reliable drone deliveries are critical for our ability to serve people in remote areas,” said Ny Manda Andrianjatovo, Operations Quality Lead at AerialMetric. “When weather conditions affect delivery schedules, it can mean the difference between having essential medicines available or not.”

Saudi Arabia recently trialed drone-based medical deliveries during Hajj season to improve response efficiency and strengthen healthcare operations.