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Drones Set To Make UAE Deliveries Faster And Cheaper
Aramex and Dronamics hope to conduct pilot flights in 2024, collaborating with regulators and facilitators to create a cutting-edge logistics network.
As the United Arab Emirates embraces widespread logistics and transport innovation, Emirati residents may soon receive courier packages via drones.
The introduction of these cutting-edge services comes from Dronamics, the world’s first cargo drone airline, with fleet management capabilities provided by partner firm Aramex.
Dubai authorities have already showcased drone deliveries for a wide range of goods within the government-owned Silicon Oasis free zone under the watchful eye of the Civil Aviation Authority.
Now, more widespread consumer drone deliveries are being planned, with trials to start as early as 2024. The autonomous craft will be equipped with cutting-edge connectivity and navigation systems, as well as parachutes and collision-avoidance technology.
Alaa Saoudi, Aramex Chief Operating Officer, said, “The cargo hold should be able to give us 3.5 cubic meters of space, which would be good for quick turn-around operations within our express middle mile operations. But it can be utilized for customers with larger consignments in the last mile as well”.
The drones will enable same-day and long-range deliveries, offering up to 80% faster deliveries at half the cost. Meanwhile, carbon dioxide emissions for drone freight are said to be 60% less than those of traditional transport vehicles.
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“We’re excited to collaborate with Aramex, integrating our cargo drone technology to bring the transformative benefits of rapid, cost-effective, and sustainable same-day delivery to the global stage,” said Svilen Rangelov, Co-Founder and CEO of Dronamics.
Dronamics’ remotely-piloted machine is known as Black Swan. The drone requires just 400 meters to land and take off, making it a viable solution for remote deliveries where traditional airports are either missing or underdeveloped.
If the Aramex and Dronamics collaboration proves successful, further joint deployments will be possible, with the two tech firms eying up key markets, including Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and Australia.
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Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon
Foreign visitors will be the first users to benefit, but whether Syria’s own banks and cardholders follow is still an open question.
Visa is returning to Syria. Its first live international card transaction in the country was a test rather than a launch, and the milestone event ran through a Lebanese bank.
The acquirer (the bank on the merchant’s side of a card payment) was Fransabank Lebanon, with Paymera as the other named partner. Nadim Moujaes, who heads a Fransabank Group subsidiary, describes the test as both the culmination of “longstanding efforts to link Syria back to international payment networks” and “the first step in a larger path”.
Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa makes the first electronic payment in Syria using a @Visa card at a store in Damascus, following the lifting of US sanctions on Syria. pic.twitter.com/lpAN7nQ6Fc
— Tech Magazine (@TechMGZN) August 27, 2026
“We are excited to have successfully tested live transactions today as we plan to enable international visitors to use their Visa cards while in Syria,” says Leila Serhan, Visa’s senior vice president and group country manager for the North Africa, Levant and Pakistan region. Although a significant first step, that plan doesn’t come with a hard date for when a visitor’s card will work normally.
Mohammed Safwat Raslan, governor of the Central Bank of Syria, says the test paves the way for international card acceptance in Syria and that maintaining strong compliance, risk management and operational controls will remain essential. Serhan likewise stresses that Visa has worked within applicable legal, regulatory and compliance requirements. For a test transaction, it seems there was a great deal of attention paid to the rules, with the entire operation being carefully managed.
Also Read: Lebanon’s 5G Era Begins With 150 Stations And A $1M Budget
The test is the latest step in a sequence that began in December 2025, when Visa announced a strategic roadmap to support Syria’s integration into the global digital economy. In February 2026 it hosted its first industry gathering of banks, ecosystem partners and policymakers in Damascus and, the same month, signed an agreement with Syria’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in San Francisco.
Michel Kattouah, Paymera’s CEO, called the test “the return of international card acceptance,” but while that’s positive news, there’s no word yet on when a Syrian bank will issue a Visa card to a Syrian customer.
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