OMM Redaksiyası
McDonald's and Chinese food delivery company Meituan have launched China’s first drone delivery route dedicated exclusively to a single food-service brand along the West Bund waterfront in Shanghai’s Xuhui district.
The new service allows visitors walking, exercising or spending time along the waterfront to have McDonald's orders delivered to specially designated pickup kiosks. The 3.1-kilometre flight route starts at a McDonald's restaurant in Xuhui and is designed to serve thousands of office workers in the area as well as tourists.
The route officially began operations on Sept. 10. Its first flight delivered a Big Mac meal from the McDonald's restaurant on Longteng Avenue to a nearby pickup point.
Much of the delivery process is automated. A robotic arm places the food inside the drone, which then flies along a predetermined route to the pickup point. Each drone can carry about 2.4 kilograms, enough for most combinations of burgers, side dishes and drinks.
When flying conditions are favourable, orders arrive in about 10 minutes. Meituan operates the network using fourth-generation M-Drone 4L Winch drones, M-Port 3 drone stations and the M-DaaS 3 scheduling system.
The West Bund operation is not limited to McDonald's. Meituan’s broader network in the area already covers nearly 20 restaurant chains and hundreds of products. The number of participating brands is expected to exceed 40 by the end of 2026.
The drones are equipped with night-time visual positioning, obstacle avoidance and emergency landing systems. The service is the latest stage in Meituan’s rapid expansion of its drone delivery business.
The company has completed more than 1 million commercial drone deliveries in various cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Dubai. Meituan has expanded its network as regulators open more low-altitude airspace for commercial operations.
The key distinction of the partnership with McDonald's is that the route is not shared among several restaurants but serves only one restaurant chain. The move indicates that restaurant brands are increasingly viewing drone delivery not merely as a technology test, but as a way to differentiate their services and offer customers faster delivery.
