A five-person French startup is turning drone delivery into a maritime service. Flyde began commercial drone deliveries to yachts anchored off Juan-les-Pins on August 1, 2026, using the electric Beluga aircraft built with aerospace firm CAVOK Engineering. The Roquebrune-Cap-Martin company charges $57 per flight, carries up to 17.6 pounds (8 kg) as far as 6.2 miles (10 km) offshore, and completes deliveries in under 15 minutes.
How The Beluga Delivers
The aircraft, identified as the CAVOK CK25VE, holds position above a yacht while a motorised winch lowers cargo to the deck. It skips the need for landing pads and keeps rotors well clear of guests, crew and rigging. Onboard systems include a 10 kg smart winch, a two-axis camera, redundant 4G and Iridium satellite comms, and maritime-certified floats.
A Different Delivery Playbook Than Amazon Or Wing
Where Walmart's Wing partnership, DoorDash Air, and Amazon Prime Air chase suburban homes, Flyde targets a customer whose alternative is slow and expensive: dispatching a tender to fetch groceries, spare parts, medicine or a forgotten bottle of champagne. A charter crew that saves 30 minutes and one crew shift can absorb a $57 fee that would sink a residential delivery model.
Regulatory Runway
Flyde received a generic SAIL II operational authorisation from France's DGAC in February 2026 covering the Mediterranean basin — the culmination of more than three years of regulatory work. Trial operations ran from Port Hercule in Monaco before opening from Port Gallice in Antibes. The published payload, range and comms specs are clear; what Flyde has not disclosed is a maximum wind envelope, the number that will decide operating days along a mistral-exposed coast.
Founding Team And Partners
Flyde is led by founder Pierre Deyris and CTO François Massias, with backing from BPI France, Nautica Assistance, and the CCI Nice Côte d'Azur. It also partners with Italian medical-drone specialist ABZéro and the Monaco Yacht Show.
Reporting based on coverage from DroneXL, Luxurylaunches and Flyde's own operational updates.