Drone-Enabled Last-Mile Delivery in Sabah: Unlocking Connectivity, Speed and Inclusive Logistics
Why Sabah Is a Strong Fit
Sabah's geography—mountainous interiors,
remote longhouse settlements, and island communities separated by water—creates
exactly the kind of "hard-to-reach" delivery problem that drones are
best suited to solve. Unlike Peninsular Malaysia's dense urban corridors,
Sabah's dispersed population means road-based last-mile delivery often involves
long detours, poor infrastructure, and high per-parcel costs, whereas drones
can fly direct routes regardless of terrain. Industry sessions at the Sabah
Drone Open Day 2024, moderated by MIGHT for SEDIA, specifically flagged food,
medicine, and reconnaissance delivery to remote areas as the highest-value
drone use cases for the state.
The Hyperway Partnership
In 2024, Sabah entered into a landmark
agreement with Hyperway, a Web3-based drone infrastructure project within the
peaq ecosystem, to build a Decentralised Physical Infrastructure Network
(DePIN) that supports autonomous drones and even air taxis. This network relies
on community-owned ground relay stations that use 5G and satellite links to
maintain seamless communication between drones and control centres, rather than
relying solely on centralised telecom infrastructure. A key stated goal is to
boost Sabah's agricultural sector through drone-powered cargo operations,
reducing the time and cost of moving goods from farms and plantations to
markets or ports.
Value Proposition for Businesses
For logistics operators and e-commerce
players, the business case for drones in Sabah rests on several measurable
advantages:
- Cost reduction: studies suggest drone delivery can cut
last-mile costs by as much as 70% compared to traditional vehicle-based
methods, a significant factor where road distances in Sabah are long and
fuel/labor costs are high.
- Speed: drones bypass congested or poorly maintained roads
entirely, taking direct flight paths that dramatically shorten delivery
times to remote kampungs and islands.
Labour relief: With delivery workforce shortages a persistent industry issue, drones can absorb routine rural deliveries, freeing human couriers for more complex urban routes.- New market access: drones enable service to communities that
are currently commercially unviable to serve by road or boat, effectively
expanding the addressable delivery market.
Positioning Within the Low-Altitude
Economy
Sabah authorities have explicitly framed
drone logistics as part of a broader "low-altitude economy" strategy,
positioning it as a potential new growth engine alongside agriculture and
tourism. This requires coordinated effort between government regulators,
telecom/infrastructure providers, and drone operators to establish air
corridors, safety standards, and BVLOS (beyond visual line of sight) flight
approvals. The Malaysian drone package delivery market overall is projected to
grow from about USD 27.8 million in 2024 to USD 324.4 million by 2029, and
Sabah's geographic profile positions it to capture a disproportionate share of
that growth given its acute need for alternatives to road-based delivery.
Remaining Challenges
Despite the promise, realising this vision
in Sabah still depends on resolving regulatory approval for autonomous BVLOS
flights, building reliable connectivity infrastructure in low-signal rural
areas, and proving payload/battery range sufficient for Sabah's distances and
weather (monsoon rain, wind over hilly terrain). Public trust and community
buy-in—particularly since the Hyperway model depends on community-owned relay
stations—will also be critical to scaling beyond pilot programs
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