SKYY Network Launches Drone Delivery Pilot at Nuanu Creative City and Café del Mar in Bali, Testing Responsible Innovation in the Real World

SKYY Network, Nuanu Creative City and Café del Mar Bali, in collaboration with Grab Indonesia, are launching a three-month drone food delivery pilot project in Bali, using Nuanu as a real-world environment to explore how emerging technology can be integrated into everyday delivery operations safely and responsibly, and Café del Mar Bali as the delivery hub to test the operational feasibility of drone-assisted food delivery between selected merchants.

In this pilot project, SKYY Network brings its aviation technology, regulatory and unmanned flight operations expertise - with drones supplied by hardware partner A2Z Drone Delivery, while Grab supports the on-demand service ecosystem and explores how drone technology could help its driver to complete challenging middle mile journeys.

Rather than representing a wider rollout, the initiative is a controlled proof-of-concept designed to generate real-world insights into infrastructure readiness, operational requirements, customer experience, safety and the integration of drone logistics with existing delivery workflows. Bali provides a diverse environment for this testing, with varied terrain, regional density and dynamic weather conditions. The pilot project will also operate within the relevant regulatory and safety frameworks from the Ministry of Transport, Bali Provincial Governments and Desa Adat, with the aim of understanding how aerial delivery can work effectively within existing local conditions.

This pilot project marks SKYY Network's first drone logistics deployment in Indonesia, extending a track record of complex BVLOS operations that spans multiple countries — including operating Europe's largest drone logistics network. Few companies globally have the aviation, regulatory and operational expertise to run beyond-visual-line-of-sight logistics missions safely at scale, and SKYY brings that experience directly to Bali’s complex aviation environment. The route operates within controlled airspace associated with Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport, with every mission broadcast live through SkyyOS, SKYY Network's proprietary operations platform, giving real-time drone position and traffic information to other airspace users throughout each flight. It's a rigorous test of systems and protocols already proven in the field, sharpening SKYY's approach as it expands its international footprint.

"Bali brings a different set of challenges to what we've built across our network in Europe — moving from medical to food delivery, alongside controlled airspace adjacent Ngurah Rai International Airport's air traffic, tests our systems in new ways. Together with Nuanu Creative City, Café del Mar Bali and Grab Indonesia, we're using this pilot project to understand how drone delivery can be deployed responsibly, safely and in a way that complements the existing delivery ecosystem," said Rory Houston, CEO, SKYY Network.

For Nuanu, the collaboration reflects its ambition to serve as a living environment for responsible innovation, a place where emerging technologies can be explored in real-world settings and assessed based on whether they create meaningful value for people, communities and the surrounding environment. As a creative city and community ecosystem, Nuanu provides a controlled environment in which the partners can observe how technology operates alongside residential, lifestyle and commercial activities. The pilot project is intended to generate practical learning around how innovation can be introduced thoughtfully, rather than assuming that every new technology is automatically the right solution.

“We’re not trying to prove that drones are the future of everything. That would be a little too ambitious, even for us. What we want to understand is where this technology genuinely makes sense, how we can use it responsibly, and what we can learn from putting it into practice. If it works, great. If it doesn’t, that’s useful to know too. For us, the value is in creating a real environment where technology can be tested alongside everyday life, rather than simply discussed in theory,” said Lev Kroll, CEO of Nuanu Creative City.

As the primary delivery hub, Café del Mar Bali provides an active hospitality environment in which the partners can assess how drone-assisted delivery interacts with merchant operations, food handling, guest expectations and the rhythm of a live lifestyle destination. Its role is not only to host the technology, but also to help test whether the model can deliver operational value while maintaining the service standards and guest experience expected in a hospitality setting.

"Being part of this pilot project reflects our ongoing commitment to enhancing guest experiences through new innovations. Café del Mar Bali is a destination where lifestyle meets discovery, and exploring how drone technology can complement our culinary scene is a natural extension of that ethos. We're testing to ensure that aerial delivery can integrate seamlessly here without disturbing the comfort our guests expect,” said Rio Fransisco, Head of Marketing, Café del Mar Bali.

Testing New Technology Without Taking People Out of the Picture

A key focus of the pilot project is understanding how drone technology can complement, rather than replace, existing delivery operations and Driver-Partners. Customers continue to place orders through the Grab app, merchants prepare the orders, and trained operators manage the drone operation. Driver-Partners remain an important part of the delivery journey, including supporting the final-mile delivery to customers. The hybrid model is also intended to explore whether drone-assisted transit can help Driver-Partners operate more efficiently in situations involving longer or challenging routes. By potentially reducing transit time across difficult sections of a journey, the pilot project will examine how technology can support operational efficiency while contributing to workplace safety and optimising earning opportunities for Driver-Partners.

The drone-assisted journey will be tested along a selected route between Café del Mar Bali and Nuanu, allowing the SKYY Network to observe how aerial navigation can operate alongside existing road-based delivery infrastructure.

"Grab Indonesia is always open to innovations that can complement our services. Through this pilot project, we aim to gradually understand how drone technology can interact with the local delivery ecosystem. The technology is not intended to replace our Driver-Partners, but to complement their role and help us explore more efficient hybrid logistics models. Gaining these insights responsibly is crucial, with safety, regulatory compliance, customer experience and the essential role of our Driver-Partners remaining front and centre,” Prisca Yosevine, Bali Nusra Region Operational Head, Grab Indonesia.

The pilot project goes beyond testing the technical capabilities of drones. It will explore how emerging technology can interact with existing communities, businesses and infrastructure without losing sight of local context. Through the collaboration, SKYY Network, Nuanu Creative City, Café del Mar Bali and Grab Indonesia aim to build a practical understanding of where drone-assisted delivery can create value, where its limitations lie, and how emerging technologies can be introduced responsibly.

The learnings from the three-month pilot project are expected to contribute to broader conversations around aerial logistics, hybrid delivery models and the thoughtful adoption of emerging technologies across Indonesia, demonstrating that innovation can move forward while keeping safety, regulatory compliance, community needs and human participation at the centre.

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Photo Credit: Nuanu Creative City