The archive · Logistics & Supply · Strategic decision · 2025–2026
Terra Drone Arabia wins Hajj's first medical-drone delivery permit
A 2025 Hajj drone pilot earned the first-of-kind GACA permit, moving Terra Drone Arabia from demo into live medical-logistics deployment in 2026.
Terra Drone (Terra Drone Arabia)
What the business is
Terra Drone is a Tokyo-headquartered drone and air-mobility group: industrial services such as surveying, inspection and agriculture (3,000+ cumulative projects), UTM software live in ten countries through subsidiaries including Belgium's Unifly, and a Saudi unit, Terra Drone Arabia, serving the Middle East and Africa.
How it started
In June 2025 Terra Drone Arabia ran the first drone-based medical delivery project in Hajj history: with Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health and medical-logistics company NUPCO, it flew blood and medicines between Mina and Arafat, sites where ground traffic turns urgent trips into hours. In May 2026 that pilot became a first: GACA issued its first operational permit for limited drone-based delivery of medicines and medical logistics within the holy sites to Terra Drone Arabia.
What happened
During Hajj 2025 (June 4–9), Terra Drone Arabia acted as lead operator and technology partner: DJI Matrice 350 RTK drones carried temperature-controlled payload boxes of blood and medicines, Unifly's UTM tracked the beyond-visual-line-of-sight flights, and deliveries that previously took over 90 minutes by road arrived in under six minutes. For Hajj 2026 (May 25–29), GACA's first-of-kind operational permit — granted under Saudi Vision 2030's aviation-localization push — covered Terra Drone Arabia's limited medical-drone deliveries in the Makkah holy sites, and the company again served as lead operator and technology partner with NUPCO.
How it ended up
GACA said the permit built on the previous year's pilot and supported the Aviation Program's goals; Terra Drone said the 2026 season moved the project from proof-of-concept and initial operations into real deployment. The company described the permit as unprecedented for a specific drone operation and as the legal and safety framework for high-density, low-altitude medical flights over crowded holy sites, and said it will keep pushing drones into Saudi healthcare, infrastructure and energy.
Background
Terra Drone, a Tokyo-headquartered drone and air-mobility group, entered Saudi Arabia through subsidiary Terra Drone Arabia and spent 2025 proving drones inside the Hajj. With the Saudi Ministry of Health and medical-logistics company NUPCO it ran the pilgrimage's first drone medical-delivery project at Mina and Arafat, where congested roads made urgent ground deliveries painfully slow.
That pilot was the wedge for a regulatory first. For Hajj 2026, held May 25–29, GACA issued its first operational permit for limited drone-based delivery of medicines and medical logistics within the holy sites in Makkah — and it went to Terra Drone Arabia. The company says the permit took it from demonstration and initial operations into deployment, and that it establishes a legal and safety framework for high-density, low-altitude medical flights over crowded holy sites.
The bet is still being played out: GACA framed the permit as part of Saudi Vision 2030's aviation-localization agenda, and Terra Drone says it will carry the same playbook into Saudi healthcare, infrastructure and energy. What made the door open was a demonstrated operation rather than a promise of one.
What has to be true
- Ground transport between Mina and Arafat during Hajj took 90 minutes or more, and Terra Drone Arabia showed blood and medicines could arrive in under six minutes by air (Terra Drone, 2025-06).
- GACA had no precedent for permitting drone medical delivery, so the first operator able to run the operation safely inside the holy sites defined the regulatory template (Saudi Gazette, 2026-05-25).
- The 2026 permit was explicitly granted on the strength of the previous year's pilot operations, rewarding the operator that had already flown the mission (GCC Business News, 2026-05).
- Hajj repeats every year with over two million pilgrims, so a first-of-kind holy-site permit is a recurring, licensable market rather than a one-off contract (Terra Drone, 2026-06).
What can be applied
A first-of-kind permit goes to the operator that already proved the operation: the 2025 Hajj pilot, not regulatory lobbying, is why GACA's first medical-drone permit was Terra Drone Arabia's to hold.
Aftermath
Terra Drone says Terra Drone Arabia operated as lead operator and technology partner with NUPCO through Hajj 2026, moving from proof-of-concept to deployment under GACA's first medical-drone delivery permit — what the company calls an unprecedented authorization. GACA framed the permit as support for Vision 2030 and aviation localization, and Terra Drone says it will expand beyond medical logistics into Saudi infrastructure and energy. The operation's long-run economics, and whether the permit extends beyond the Hajj season, remain open questions.
Sources
- GACA issues first drone delivery permit for medical services during Hajj
- GACA issues drone delivery permit for medical services during Hajj
- テラドローン、サウジアラビア子会社を通じてイスラム教最大の宗教行事「ハッジ」における医療物流ドローン運用を本格化〜昨年の初回プロジェクト実施を経て、サウジアラビア一般民間航空総局（GACA）の運用許可のもと自律型配送体制の展開を開始〜
- テラドローン、イスラム教の宗教行事「ハッジ」において初のドローンによる医療物資配送プロジェクトを実施
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