When Freight Takes Flight
Drones for a sustainable transport system
South Tyrol/Südtirol stands for green competence and sustainable mobility, and FlyingBasket demonstrates how that can be translated into market-ready solutions. The start-up company from Bolzano/Bozen revolutionises transport with its electrically operated cargo drones. Founded in 2015 by the brothers Moritz and Matthias Moroder, the company established itself as Europe’s first provider of commercial heavy cargo drones in just a few years. The vision: make transport more efficient, safer, and emission-free—particularly where traditional solutions begin to fail. Their mission is to make aerial lifting and transport accessible for all industries.
Safer, more efficient and eco-friendly freight transport
The idea took shape during a hike in the Dolomites. A helicopter transport inspired the founders to look for a simpler and more sustainable way to move cargo in difficult terrain. Nowadays, the FB3 drone can lift a net load of up to 100 kg and is being used in a variety of fields: the construction of wind farms, alpine terrain, major construction sites, or telecom tower maintenance.
One particular milestone was reached in 2024 off the shore of the North Sea: “In just 10 days, our drones transported 5.5 tonnes of material to an offshore wind farm—a task that would have taken weeks using conventional means”, says Moritz Moroder. The company’s most recent success was subsequently achieved in 2025 off the British coast: as part of a large-scale project by Ørsted, the world’s largest developer of offshore wind power outside of China, FlyingBasket drones carried out hundreds of flights to more than 400 wind turbines. That way, it was possible to deliver material safely and precisely without having to power down the turbines—unprecedented for the international wind energy industry.
Pioneering work in technology and regulation
FlyingBasket is among the first companies to be granted a permit to fly their drones beyond visual line of sight by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). That was possible because the founders were personally involved in preparing those guidelines: an example of the company’s pioneering regulatory work.
Nowadays, FlyingBasket employs more than 25 team members from nine nations. For the future, the company values substance: there are targeted investments in technology, process optimisation, and a company culture based on team spirit and long-term thinking. Together with partners such as the Italian postal service and Leonardo, FlyingBasket is working to establish permanent drone service between logistics centres—another step towards automated, emission-free supply chains.
