Amazon is pushing ahead with plans to launch drone deliveries in the UK through a new Prime Air service.
The technology giant has already been running a fleet of electric drones in the US since 2022 and is now planning to start trials of Prime Air at its fulfilment centre in Darlington after becoming one of six organisations greenlit for drone projects under a new UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) scheme.
It’s lodging a planning application with the local authority to seek permission to build flight operations facilities at the site, as well as applying for authorisation from the CAA to fly drones in the airspace.
Once those agreements are in place, Amazon will begin hiring team members to launch drone delivery.
It’s also engaging with the Darlington community to answer questions and collect feedback on the new delivery option.
A spokesperson said: “Since launching in 2022 in the US, we have safely delivered thousands of packages to customers in 60 minutes or less using a fleet of electric drones designed, built, and operated by Amazon.”
They added: “Having already built safe and reliable drone delivery services elsewhere in the world in close partnership with regulators and the communities we serve, we are now working to do the same in the UK.”
Once the service is live, customers within the designated area will be able to order items directly from the Amazon app or website and have them delivered in under an hour.
Since launching in the US in 2022, Prime Air has safely delivered thousands of packages to customers in 60 minutes or less using a fleet of electric drones designed, built and operated by Amazon.
