(Yicai Global) Aug. 24 -- China's express delivery giant SF Holdings completed China's first cargo trial operation of a large unmanned aerial vehicle in the remote Ningxia Autonomous Region on Aug. 21, laying a solid foundation for future commercial operations in the area.

The drone took off from an airport in the northwestern region on Aug. 21 and landed safely at its destination in the neighboring Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region one hour later, the Beijing Daily reported, citing Ningxia's Postal Administration. The report did not reveal the distance between the two airports for the test flight, and the weight and varieties of cargo the pilotless plane carried.

With a maximum take-off weight of 5.25 tons, the UAV FH-98 is one of China's largest and has a cavernous cargo compartment suitable for freight.

"Large drones are expected to effectively solve the inconvenience in logistics and transportation and low transportation efficiency in remote areas,"said Liu Dong, head of the public affairs department of SF Express Ningxia.

Ningxia has various landforms such as mountains, basins, plains, canyons, wetlands, deserts, and plateaus and has a small population and few flights but many general aviation airports, so the region is very suitable for early operation of new aircraft types.

Large logistics UAVs can deliver Ningxia's high-value seasonal specialties such as beef, mutton, fresh dates and wolfberries to consumers in the region and even nationwide in a timely fashion, Liu added.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China approved SF Holdings to conduct trial operations of drones for feeder logistics in February. The firm has secured approvals for nine flight routes for scientific research and business testing thus far.

Editor: Ben Armour