The UK's rapidly expanding commercial drone logistics operator, CargoWing, reported pre-tax profits of £4.6m on revenues of £28.4m for the fiscal year ending March 2024. Operating in a highly competitive medical and high-value logistics market (see Table 1), CargoWing competes against traditional courier services, helicopter transport providers, and autonomous road-delivery start-ups. The growth of CargoWing has been propelled by emergency healthcare contracts and congested urban routes driving urgent medical providers to seek rapid, zero-emission transit.
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| CourierExpress | 2.4 | 2.9 | 3.5 |
| CargoWing | 0.5 | 1.1 | 1.8 |
| HeliMed | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.2 |
| SkyCart | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.4 |
Table 1 – Annual High-Value Medical Deliveries (millions)
Across its regional logistics network, CargoWing completed a record 2.2 million container deliveries in 2023/24, achieving an average capacity utilization of 78% on its autonomous drone fleets.
The revenue per container slot for CargoWing in 2023/24 was £84.20, which resulted in an average profit of £18.45 on each slot. However, the operator faced an additional £2.4m investment in upgrading its autonomous collision-avoidance software and £1.1m in securing exclusive landing pad rights at major London hospital helipads.
Similar to other transport markets, CargoWing utilises a 'dynamic weight-and-urgency pricing model' where slot prices rise as the requested delivery timeframe shortens. Table 2 outlines the differences in sample delivery quotes at different intervals ahead of the dispatch date.
| Route | Date when price was quoted | Date of delivery | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 Sept 2023 | 24 Oct 2023 | 5 Dec 2023 | ||
| Oxford to London (Urgent) | 10 days before | £65 | £54 | £48 |
| 1 day before | £98 | £82 | £72 |
Table 2 – Delivery quotes on different booking intervals (one-way slot)
Refer to paragraph 3. Calculate, using information from the stimulus material, the average cost of a container slot on a CargoWing flight in 2023/24.
