NICOSIA – To insure nothing will stay the completion of appointed rains – unless perhaps there’s very heavy winds – Cyprus will turn to using drones to get mail to remote areas, beginning with a pilot program, so to speak.

Minister of Transport, Communications and Works Yiannis Karousos said after a demonstration flight to a hotel in Limassol that, “Cyprus Post is being upgraded. The plan to use drones instead of mail delivery carriers in specific cases was taken after the government decided against privatizing the postal service.”

He added, said Kathimerini: “The government is proceeding to upgrade and the service which we offer,”stressing that technology and innovation make this upgrade possible “and part of that is the delivery of mail items using drone technology.”

Using drones, he said, is something that is being explored globally and we believe it is the future of postal delivery. It is something we are looking at today as we participate in an EU program where, with the participation of six countries, we can determine what services we can offer using drones.”

“We are very optimistic that this technology can be used and citizens can expect many changes in the future. Instead of hiring postal distributors or mailmen, we will begin hiring drone pilots.”

He said there’s no time set yet to begin using the drones regularly nor what would happen to delivery workers or what other changes would be in store for Cyprus Post because of the change of methods.

Karousos also stated that drones could be used within cities, “but would make even more sense for remote areas, where postal services cannot be provided on a daily basis, thereby increasing the productivity of the mail service.”