In a dramatic outdoor presentation during a snowstorm at Sofia Airport, two entrepreneurial brothers unveiled their first production unit of the Black Swan aircraft that, they say, is ready to start commercial flights for same-day delivery services in Europe early next year.

Seven years ago Svilen and Konstantin Rangelov, an economist and an aerospace engineer, started work developing a large unmanned drone that can carry up to 350kg of cargo at a distance of up to 2,500km at up to 80% lower cost than any current aircraft.

Unlike most drones, the Black Swan is a fixed-wing aircraft that can operate from runways as short as 400 metres, unpaved, and will enable Dronamics to serve customers in even the smallest and most remote communities.

“The unveiling of the Black Swan represents a critical milestone in the company's mission to enable same-day shipping for everyone everywhere. The years of hard work are paying off and as soon as we're done with our extensive test program and obtain certification in 2022 we are going to begin commercial operations, serving customers in Europe and beyond years ahead of everyone else,” says Svilen Rangelov.

“For more than 100 years people have designed airplanes for humans first, meaning they were never really optimized for cargo, and in fact, they're quite inefficient. By being extremely focused solely on carrying cargo, we were able to develop an aircraft that is able to do the job at up to 80% lower cost than any other airplane, meaning we can bring the benefits of aviation to billions of people around the world who do not get regular air service,” adds Konstantin.

As the world leader in cargo drones, Dronamics plans to roll out a global network of droneports allowing the Black Swan to provide the critical missing “middle mile” in air freight. Whether ferrying vital supplies between islands or delivering critical spare parts deep into a country, Dronamics will link towns and cities around the world with each other in a way simply never possible before.

It will be able to run on 100% synthetic fuel.