A drone delivery company announced it is no longer making deliveries in a Triangle community.
Flytrex announced the company would no longer make deliveries in Holly Springs after years of food deliveries through a partnership with the North Carolina Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration.
The Israel-based company shared the announcement via social media last week, saying:
“See you later, Holly Springs: We officially wrapped up deliveries in Holly Springs yesterday (at least for now!), and we’re so grateful for your support. While we’ve hit a few airspace limits that are keeping us from scaling here for now, we’re hopeful that’ll change soon. In the meantime, we’re growing fast in Texas and beyond – and we can’t wait to fly your way again.”
In a post on Facebook, town councilman Chris Deshazor cited FAA regulations for the company’s decision.
“They have left the door open to come back, but for now, we will be without this service,” his post read.
On Thursday, Holly Springs Mayor Sean Mayefskie told WRAL that Flytrek’s announcement to end operations in his town came as a surprise.
“They’re a private company,” Mayefskie said. “They didn’t have any obligation to provide us with any information, just like any other business that wanted to close or to move to a new location.”
However, he said Flytrex is welcome to circle back.
“If there is somebody out there that wants to do something similar to [Flytrex], we’d love to talk to them about it,” Mayefskie continued. “We wish Flytrex the best. There may be an opportunity to get them to come back. We’d love to see them come back.”
In a statement to WRAL News, a Flytrex spokesperson said the drone delivery service depends on a “high level of automation to achieve the efficiency needed for long-term viability.”
“Over the past year, following years of testing and close collaboration with the FAA, we’ve aligned on several key technological advancements that unlock the ability to scale our operations in a sustainable way,” the statement read. “However, these automation capabilities are currently only permitted in specific types of airspace. Unfortunately, Holly Springs falls outside of the areas where these conditions are met, meaning we don’t yet have a clear path to implement the level of automation required to operate there at scale.”
The spokesperson told WRAL while Flytrex is disappointed to have to pause operation in Holly Springs, their focus now “shifts to areas where we can scale today.”
“One such area is the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, where we just launched our third site last week, with several more planned by year’s end,” the statement continued. “Holly Springs has been an incredible community to serve, and we’re truly grateful for the support we’ve received over the years. We hope to return in the future, as we continue developing new technologies and work with the FAA to expand what’s possible in more types of airspace, including areas like Holly Springs.”
WRAL News previously covered the start of Flytrex’s partnership with the NC DOT as part of the FAA’s BEYOND program — a four-year initiative looking at ways to move beyond a federal rule that requires drones to be visually monitored by a ground observer while in the air. Holly Springs was chosen to be part of that partnership.
In 2023, the company announced plans to gradually expand services to Cary, Apex, Knightdale, Wake Forest, Fuquay-Varina and other areas in the Triad and Charlotte.