Two rapidly growing drone companies – one foreign, one local – are jockeying for position in Ireland’s burgeoning drone industry.  Local yokel Manna, which has made thousands of package deliveries in two Dublin suburbs since its founding in 2019, now hopes to expand its “last mile” operation overseas.  And Wing, a subsidiary of Google’s parent company Alphabet, with a proven track record of drone deliveries across Australia, has plans to compete with Manna the length of the Emerald Isle.

Manna, operating on its home turf, clearly has the early advantage.  But it’s a toss up who will end up gaining the competitive edge over the long haul, industry observers say.

Until recently, Ireland wasn’t even viewed as a major player on the European drone scene; its market is still relatively small, in fact.  France-based Parrot and Germany’s Wingcopter are far better known and have more flying experience in Europe than Manna.  But the European Union’s recent decision to encourage regulatory changes to expand the drone industry continent-wide has allowed new countries – and new players – to compete for market share.

It has also opened up domestic drone markets like Ireland’s to penetration by outsiders.  Wing, with its global ambitions, and sensing  fresh overseas opportunity, has moved quickly to exploit this opening.

Wing’s global ambitions are already well known.  The company has expanded its highly successful Australian operations to Finland, and more recently to the United States.  Australia’s permissive regulatory climate has allowed the company to operate with Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) authority across long-distances, but primarily in the country’s vast rural areas, not in major cities.  Still, Wing has demonstrated that it can operate at scale, a capability most other drone companies, including Manna, operating under more restrictive guidelines, can only dream of.

Many questions remain about Wing’s intentions.  Where will the company establish its base in Ireland?  Will it compete with Manna in the Dublin suburbs – or perhaps start in rural areas, as it did in Australia?  And how will the country’s civil aviation authorities react to Wing’s inevitable request for BVLOS authority to fly over longer distances, without remote piloting?

Representatives of the two companies are already engaged in friendly banter on social media, as they prepare for a new era of market competition in Ireland and undoubtedly elsewhere.  “Great news for Ireland,” Manna CEO Robert Healy wrote recently, upon hearing of Wing’s plans.  “Once again our aviation policy puts us in a leadership position on the world stage. Looking forward to seeing Wing join us in the Irish skies. Exciting times!”

Wing’s CEO quickly replied in kind.  “Thanks @realBobbyHealy! You’ve built an incredible foundation. Can’t wait to join Ireland’s thriving drone industry!” he said.

While their competition in Ireland will likely be head-to-head, the two companies could soon find themselves facing off on American soil, too –  but with roles somewhat reversed.

Wing recently began package deliveries in Frisco, a suburb of Dallas-Fort Worth, after first getting started last year in the small rural town of Christiansburg, Virginia.  Manna, not to be outdone, just received a major infusion of investment capital from Coca-Cola HBC, the parent company’s bottling distributor, to deliver food and store supplies in another Dallas-Fort Worth suburb, just a stone’s throw from Wing’s base in Frisco.

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