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Unmanned aircraft for emergency deliveries between hospitals in Madrid: Estimating time savings and predictability Ganic, Emir Barrado Muxí, Cristina Krstic-Simic, Tatjana Kuljanin, Jovana Baena Botana, Miguel Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Departament d'Arquitectura de Computadors Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Departament de Física Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. ICARUS - Intelligent Communications and Avionics for Robust Unmanned Aerial Systems Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Aeronàutica i espai U-space UAM Drone Unmanned aircraft eVTOL Emergency delivery Healthcare logistics Medical delivery Transport Unmanned aircraft are increasingly recognized for their potential to enhance healthcare logistics, offering rapid and reliable transport solutions. Among the many envisioned use cases, emergency medical deliveries stand out as particularly promising due to their immediate societal value. This study investigates the potential of drones operating under U-space to support hospital-to-hospital emergency deliveries in Madrid. Using the GEMMA tool, we modeled and simulated operations with two drone types along direct routes between four hospitals, resulting in six hospital pairs. Drone travel times were estimated and compared against road transport times obtained from the Google Routes API, incorporating one week of traffic data to capture daily and weekend variability. The results show substantial advantages of aerial transport, with time savings ranging from 2 to 26 min, equivalent to 35–58% compared to road transport. Drones consistently ensured deliveries within 15 min, outperforming regular cars (39%) and ambulances or motorcycles in highly congested periods. Sensitivity analysis confirms their reliability in scenarios with strict time constraints, especially under 15 min. These findings demonstrate that drones reduce travel times and improve predictability, providing a robust evidence base for policymakers and regulators to advance U-space integration in healthcare logistics. This work was supported by the MUSE project (Measuring U-Space Social and Environmental Impact). This project has received funding from the SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking (SESAR 3 JU) under grant agreement No. 101114858. The JU receives support from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation program and the SESAR 3 JU members other than the Union. Peer Reviewed Postprint (published version) 2025-10 Article Ganic, E. [et al.]. Unmanned aircraft for emergency deliveries between hospitals in Madrid: Estimating time savings and predictability. «Drones», Octubre 2025, vol. 9, núm. 11, article 728. 2504-446X https://hdl.handle.net/2117/449057 10.3390/drones9110728 eng https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/9/11/728 info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/HE/101114858/EU/Measuring U-Space Social and Environmental Impact/MUSE http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Open Access Attribution 4.0 International 23 p. application/pdf Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)