Amazon expects to begin making parcel deliveries by drone for the first time later this year, pending final regulatory approval.
Customers in Lockeford, California, will be among the first able to receive drone deliveries from the online giant, with a broader rollout planned.
Amazon has promised drone delivery for years but faced delays and regulatory setbacks. It made its first trial delivery by drone in the UK in 2016, but safety concerns have dogged the project.
Amazon is currently working with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in US and city officials for permits to begin operating the service.
In a blog post, the company said: “The promise of drone delivery has often felt like science fiction. But later this year, Amazon customers living in Lockeford, California, will become among the first to receive Prime Air deliveries.
“Their feedback about Prime Air will help us create a service that will safely scale to meet the needs of customers everywhere.”
Amazon’s drones will be programmed to drop parcels in customers’ back gardens, aiming to make deliveries in less than an hour from ordering. They are able to fly ‘beyond-line-of-sight’, meaning they don’t have to be controlled by a visual observer and instead use sensors to avoid aircraft, people, pets and other obstacles.
Explaining how Prime Air deliveries would work, Amazon said: “Once onboarded, customers in Lockeford will see Prime Air-eligible items on Amazon. They will place an order as they normally would and receive an estimated arrival time with a status tracker for their order.
“For these deliveries, the drone will fly to the designated delivery location, descend to the customer’s backyard, and hover at a safe height. It will then safely release the package and rise back up to altitude.”
Walmart announced last month that it was making its drone delivery service available to four million US households following the success of trials.
NAM Implications:
- “Their feedback about Prime Air will help us create a service that will safely scale to meet the needs of customers everywhere”
- Take this as more of a running certainty, than a promise…
