DHL Parcel has announced the launch of a new 'parcelcopter' trial on the North Sea island of Juist.

In a world first, medications and other urgently-needed goods are to be delivered to the island at certain times of day using the aircraft.

Extended flight duration and range are among the key innovations of the vehicle: the distance to the island of Juist is around 12 kilometres.

The flight will be completely automated, but constant monitoring will take place for safety purposes and to ensure it complies with the requirements set by the responsible agencies.

"Our DHL parcelcopter 2.0 is already one of the safest and most reliable flight systems in its class that meets the requirements needed to fulfill such a mission," said Jurgen Gerdes, chief executive officer of Deutsche Post DHL's Post - eCommerce - Parcel Division.

This latest development takes the service into the next phase of the parcelcopter research project it launched in December 2013.