Amazon Prime Air delivery drones can be unleashed • Register

Amazon Prime Air has received approval from the US Federal Aviation Administration to fly drones to deliver packages beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) to remote operators.

“We are pleased to share that the FAA has granted Prime Air additional authority that allows us to operate our drones beyond visual line of sight, so we can now serve more customers via drone and effectively expand and scale our drone delivery operations.” he said. The Internet Titan said on Thursday.

Amazon said it worked extensively with the FAA to demonstrate how its drones can safely navigate near other planes.

“We currently deliver products to hundreds of customers and have completed thousands of drone deliveries,” an Amazon spokesperson said Register. That’s up from “hundreds of deliveries” in October 2023, but below Prime Air’s 2023 target of 10,000.

Amazon received its first Part 135 certification in August 2020, which was used for line-of-sight deliveries in California and Texas.

With the FAA’s blessing in hand, Amazon plans to expand its delivery area in College Station, Texas. Later this year, the mega-corporation stated that it intends to integrate drone deliveries into its delivery network, which means that some same-day delivery orders will be able to be fulfilled by drones where available.

In April, Amazon announced it was pausing drone deliveries to Lockeford, California, while adding service in the West Valley in the Phoenix, Arizona metro area. Further expansion was also announced, without specific details.

Regulatory approval will help Amazon Prime Air compete with competitors that have already obtained BVLOS approval from the FAA and have a longer history of success. In April, Zipline reported that it had completed one million commercial drone deliveries.

Aviation companies require a Part 135 air carrier certificate to deliver packages by drone and further approval under the BEYOND program for flights without direct visual surveillance.

In June 2022, Zipline received First Part 135 certification to operate BVLOS in the US. In December 2023, the Wing received BVLOS clearance from the FAA. Both carriers are currently service providers for Walmart.

In January 2023, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said the e-commerce giant would lay off 18,000 people, and some of the people affected were reported to be part of the Prime Air team.

According to a January 2023 report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, industry stakeholders complained that the FAA had not clearly outlined its requirements, making the regulatory approval process difficult to navigate. The report cites FAA projections that the commercial drone fleet will grow from 622,000 in 2021 to 858,000 in 2026. ®