Le Journal des Entreprises: FLYDE opens the first drone maritime delivery base on the French Riviera
Le Journal des Entreprises published a five-minute in-depth interview with FLYDE founder Pierre Deyris on July 16th, 2026, ahead of our commercial launch on August 1st. The article, written by Olivia Oreggia, positions FLYDE as opening the first drone maritime delivery base on the French Riviera, with plans to rapidly expand across the Côte d’Azur and internationally.
The interview explains FLYDE’s core service: drone-based resupply of pleasure boats anchored within a 10 km radius, delivering packages of up to 10 kg in just 10 minutes. Founder Pierre Deyris details our vision of building a network of aerial corridors, starting with our first European base at Port Gallice in Antibes, followed by iconic zones in Cannes, Monaco, Saint-Tropez-Ramatuelle, before expanding to Sardinia, Capri, Corsica, the Balearics, and the Greek islands.
The article also covers FLYDE’s four-year journey to commercial launch. Founded in 2022, the six-person team spent over three years understanding the market, defining specifications, and testing deliveries. Early drones carried only 2 kg and landed on boats — a solution abandoned for safety reasons in favor of a winch-based approach with French manufacturer Cavok. FLYDE raised 300,000 euros from business angels to finance testing and experimentation, and secured authorization from the DSAC (French civil aviation safety directorate) after extensive regulatory work.
Le Journal des Entreprises also reveals FLYDE’s pricing (between 40 and 100 euros per delivery) and business objectives: two full-time zones deployed for the 2026 season plus ad-hoc operations, revenue target of 80,000 euros by end-2026 and half a million euros in 2027, with 20 aerial bases planned by end-2027 covering both yachting and merchant shipping. Pierre Deyris also mentions upcoming diversification into mountain regions and medical logistics, notably in discussion with a local blood analysis laboratory.
The interview closes on the challenge of recruiting drone pilots: a new profession requiring specific skills. The two pilots who led the Port Gallice experiments are a former police officer and a former rescue worker, both with ten years of experience piloting in stress and emergency management contexts — reflecting FLYDE’s high standards for safety, risk management, and composure under pressure.