Flytrex has unveiled new rooftop docks and AI fleet positioning that it says cuts its cost per delivery by 60 per cent and halves delivery times.

Using predictive AI modelling, Flytrex will preposition drones on merchant rooftops before an order is even received. The drone lands on a new docking system, shuts down its motors and waits. When the food is ready, restaurant staff clip the order onto the drone’s hook in seconds without touching the aircraft.

The technology is launching at active merchant locations across the Dallas-Fort Worth metro, with more than 100 additional sites being installed.

Traditionally, drone delivery companies dispatch drones from a central location once an order is ready, adding time and cost. Flytrex’s system is the first to enable drones to wait at merchant locations before an order arrives.

“The truly challenging part has never been the flight; it’s the last few hundred feet between the kitchen and the aircraft,” said co-founder and CEO Amit Regev.

The company says predictive AI decides which restaurants are most likely to receive orders at a given time of day, so the drone arrives before the order does.