On September 10, 2026, Meituan's low-altitude air network for drones in the West Bund of Shanghai was officially put into operation. This is the second systematic urban air network launched by Meituan, following Shenzhen. On September 12, McDonald's China announced at the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) that it has partnered with Meituan Drones to launch the country's first dedicated drone delivery route for a catering brand, also located in the West Bund of Xuhui, Shanghai.
Having food delivery fly through the air sounds like a highly beneficial endeavor for everyone. However, based on all implemented cases so far, the coverage radius of drone delivery is almost always within a few kilometers. Why can't they fly further?
01. The Cost Accounting for a Drone Is Much More Complex Than That for a Rider
Meituan stated that in daily scenarios such as residential and office areas, the drone delivery fee is basically consistent with traditional delivery fees. However, identical delivery fees do not mean identical costs. The cost structure for a rider is very simple: wages, social insurance, and electric vehicle charging.
The cost structure for drones is much more complex, encompassing aircraft procurement or depreciation, battery replacement, take-off and landing facility maintenance, route planning systems, back-end operation teams, and insurance premiums. The unit cost of a single delivery drone ranges from several thousand to tens of thousands of CNY, whereas an electric vehicle for a rider costs only two to three thousand CNY. More importantly, there is the economies of scale. Riders can be flexibly allocated: more riders are dispatched when there are more orders, and fewer when there are fewer orders.
Drones cannot do this. Once a route is opened, take-off and landing sites, communication base stations, and maintenance personnel require continuous investment, regardless of whether there are orders on a given day. This means the cost curve for drone delivery is not linear; only when the order density is sufficiently high can the per-order cost potentially fall below that of a rider. SF Express's low-altitude logistics in the Greater Bay Area has seen its average daily delivery volume exceed 20,000 orders, with over a thousand flights per day. This scale was achieved after years of accumulation. In contrast, for drone delivery in most cities, the order density is far from reaching this level.
02. Small and Medium-Sized Drones Are Easier to Manage, While Large Drones Face Greater Challenges
Small drones used for food delivery (take-off weight ≤ 25kg) face relatively relaxed airworthiness management. However, once medium- to long-distance delivery (such as cross-district or cross-city) is required, medium or even large drones must be utilized, and the management of large drones is much more difficult.
According to the classification by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), those with a take-off weight of over 150kg are classified as large drones. Airworthiness certification for large drones requires obtaining three certificates: the Type Certificate (TC), the Production Certificate (PC), and the Certificate of Airworthiness (AC) for each individual aircraft.
These three certificates cover the entire chain from design verification and mass manufacturing to commercial operations. Li Sheng, Executive Deputy Director of the Aviation Logistics Branch of the China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing, pointed out that three major factors restrict the large-scale commercial implementation of large drones: strict airspace approval requirements, difficult and time-consuming airworthiness certification, and high manufacturing costs per unit. Jin Ge, General Manager of Yitong Drones, also frankly stated that the company prioritizes using sub-ton models to explore the market, listing the reduction of risks to ground personnel and property damage as the primary principle.
In other words, small drones can deliver food, but not over long distances; large drones can fly further, but it is currently very difficult for them to obtain the legal driver's license to take to the skies.
03. Airspace Is Not Available for Flight at Will
The popularity of the low-altitude economy has led many to overlook the fact that the flight of civil drones requires airspace approval. In September this year, the revised Measures for the Management of Temporary Routes by the Office of the Central Air Traffic Management Committee came into effect. During the same period, the nine G60 cities jointly issued the first initiative for joint action on low-altitude safety, emphasizing the implementation of real-name registration, airspace inquiry, and flight approval requirements, and resolutely putting an end to illegal flights.
Airspace approval is complex because the opening of every new route requires coordination with air traffic control departments regarding flight altitude, time slots, and paths. The longer the route, the more approval levels are involved. This is also why drone delivery is currently concentrated mainly at the urban last mile; for short-distance delivery of a few kilometers, airspace coordination is relatively simple.
04. It Is Not a Matter of Technological Inadequacy, but That the Economic Equation Has Not Yet Been Balanced
The last-mile coverage of drone food delivery is essentially not a technological issue, but a business one. Meituan Drones began its exploration in 2017, completed its first order delivery for real users in Shenzhen in 2021, and only launched its second systematic urban air network in 2026, taking nine years. Over these nine years, the technology has undergone multiple iterations, but there has been no qualitative breakthrough in the coverage radius.
Experts have pointed out that Meituan's development of low-altitude logistics is not intended to replace riders, but to supplement delivery capacity through human-machine collaboration. Within a 3-kilometer range, low-altitude logistics helps improve fulfillment stability, and can serve as a backup capacity, especially during extreme weather. This positioning is accurate. The short-term value of drone delivery lies not in replacing riders, but in providing supplementary capacity in scenarios where riders struggle to operate (such as extreme weather, traffic congestion, and special areas like scenic spots and parks). Its coverage radius is constrained by a triple restriction of cost structure, airworthiness thresholds, and airspace management, rather than the technology itself.
The next time you see a drone flying overhead to deliver food, you might want to pay attention to how far it flies. Most likely, it will not exceed the distance you can cover on an electric bike in ten minutes.
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