A Kerikeri robot plane company has signed a deal with national company Freightways to deliver the unmanned planes’ cargoes once they land.

Merlin Labs NZ, the first overseas subsidiary of US aviation technology firm Merlin Labs, opened its brand-new base next to Bay of Islands Airport in Kerikeri in May.

Shaun Johnson, who joined the Air Force straight out of seventh form at Kerikeri High School, has returned to his old hometown to lead the ground-breaking venture. It would start small as an air freight operation using conventional human-piloted planes and gradually transition to autonomous aircraft able to take off, fly and land by themselves.

In Kerikeri, the firm’s first steps would be to integrate its software and hardware into a fleet of Cessna Caravan planes and to work with Civil Aviation (CAA) to certify its systems and make them air-legal.

Merlin has signed a deal with Freightways businesses Fieldair, Parceline and New Zealand Couriers to deliver the cargoes. The first flight will be on Thursday, when the companies will deliver domestic courier items from the Boston-based tech firm’s NZ outpost of Kerikeri to Auckland and through to Palmerston North in an increasingly autonomous capacity.

At first, two pilots will continue to supervise the trips while the Merlin team integrates its software and hardware into the Cessna fleet on-site. Freightways trucks and couriers will then pick up the cargo and integrate the items into the nationwide courier network, creating efficiencies and another option for congestion or emergencies on the road that will support the current team to meet service standards in New Zealand.

Merlin will continue to work with CAA to certify its systems before reducing to one-pilot flights and then going fully autonomous.

Merlin recently announced the CAA reviewed and approved the first stage of involvement (SOI 1) in its four-step certification process, putting the Merlin Pilot on a viable path to validation and certification.

The Merlin Pilot has been designed to significantly reduce pilot workload and eventually enable pilotless cargo operations beginning from their Northland operating base. This takeoff-to-touchdown system is capable of managing all phases of flight between airfields, including voice communication with air traffic control, said Freightways CEO Mark Troughear.

The goal is to commence automated take-off-to-touchdown flights once certified, and then continue to develop the Merlin Pilot, under CAA supervision, to enable fully autonomous flight.

Troughear said the listed freight and logistics company is continually assessing other entrepreneurial partners who are keen to extend people’s access to safe, fast and reliable services.

“Servicing airfreight for the extremities of our small country is often challenging, and the applications of the trial to allow safe access to harder-to-reach places with urgent items like medicine or supplies immediately piqued our interest. It’ll add significant resilience to the network if successful,” he said.

“Merlin’s technology complemented our unique skillsets of both airfreight operations and engineering capability through Parceline and Fieldair, as well as the country’s most comprehensive express freight networks via New Zealand Couriers.”

While Merlin Lab NZ CEO Johnson and a number of his NZ teammates grew up in Northland, the selection of Kerikeri as their base of operations was primarily driven by the region’s supportive community, council and the excellent flight test potential presented by Northland’s relatively uncongested airspace.

“With a test, learn and iterate approach, this centre for operations will rapidly increase Merlin’s progress to scale the future of autonomy,” Johnson said.

To date, Merlin has conducted over 500 autonomous flights from their research and development facility in Mojave, California USA and via their FAA Contract in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Merlin Labs NZ has 15 staff, with seven permanently in Kerikeri. Its second Cessna Caravan arrived last month and a third is due late next year.

Five members of the team, Johnson included, left Northland straight after high school because they didn’t see any opportunities at home.

“So having a chance to bring something like this back to Te Tai Tokerau is wonderful for all of us. We’re super passionate about Stem [science, technology, engineering and maths] and youth in Northland, and even if we create only one or two jobs, we can expose young Northlanders to this sort of technology,” he said.

■ About Merlin:

Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Boston, with additional offices in Denver, Kerikeri (NZ) and Mojave, Merlin is building the definitive autonomy system for all things that fly. To learn more, visit www.merlinlabs.com.