Dufour Aerospace to deliver first aircraft to European Medical Drone next year
(L-R) Michael Savbäck, founder and CEO Savback Helicopters; Thomas Pfammatter, co-founder and CEO Dufour Aerospace; Martin Braaen, founder of European Medical Drone and Jasmine Kent, co-founder and CTO Dufour Aerospace.
Dufour Aerospace is set to deliver a first aircraft to its second customer, Swedish operator European Medical Drone in 2024.
The two firms signed a development cooperation and purchase agreement for 11 Aero2 uncrewed tilt-wing aircraft last week. The deal includes the delivery of one Aero2 X2.3 prototype aircraft in next year and 10 production Aero2 aircraft with delivery starting in 2026. Savback Helicopters, Swedish helicopter vendor and Dufour Aerospace partner, is assisting this transaction.
Martin Braaen, founder of European Medical Drone, said: “Dufour’s Aero2 is exactly what we are looking for, and at this stage, we do not see another product offering the same features close to market entry.
“Our mission is to facilitate sharing of vital resources among hospitals,” added Braaen. “Our system allows hospitals to request and receive essential supplies such as blood, medicines, and medical equipment. As we have a focus on connecting hospitals which are several hundred kilometres apart, we need long-range, heavy-lift, uncrewed aircraft with a lot of redundancy for safety.”
The three companies will collaborate specifically to introduce the Aero2 on initial routes between hospitals in Sweden. The work will include drafting the necessary conops, submitting documentation to the authorities and carrying out trial operations and implementing use case specific requirements into the aircraft.
Thomas Pfammatter, CEO and co-founder of Dufour Aerospace, said: “Connecting hospitals in a fast, reliable and efficient way makes a lot of sense in our eyes, and this will even become more important in the future. We are very happy to support European Medical Drone with our products and contribute to their activities towards building a medical logistics network to the best of our abilities. This development cooperation and purchase contract is of particular importance to us, as it confirms that our high-level specifications meet not only use cases overseas, but also in Europe.”
Michael Savbäck, founder and CEO of Savback Helicopters, added: “Together with Dufour Aerospace, we look forward to supporting European Medical Drone’s mission of creating a robust medical logistics network that offers swift, reliable, and efficient transportation services to hospitals in Scandinavia. From medical logistics to search and rescue operations, and from law enforcement to aerial surveying, the Dufour Aero2 has been purposefully designed to meet the diverse needs of modern aviation. Its ability to seamlessly transition between roles and missions makes it a standout choice for a wide range of applications.”
