Amazon is taking advantage of FAA approval to expand drone deliveries

Amazon can now deliver orders via drone to more customers after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved its request to operate drones beyond visual line of sight, known as “BVLOS.” Later this year, Amazon will expand beyond Texas and California to launch drone deliveries in Arizona, as announced last month. This will be the first time that Amazon drones will be launched from a same-day delivery site – until now, they have launched from dedicated Prime Air sites.

The latest development shows Amazon’s long-term thinking. Eleven years ago, founder Jeff Bezos appeared on 60 Minutes to reveal his drone delivery plans, which were new at the time and were received with some skepticism.

In a statement Thursday, Amazon said it developed a BVLOS strategy that includes built-in detect-and-avoid technology to obtain FAA approval. “We have spent years developing, testing and refining our onboard detection and avoidance system to ensure our drones can detect and avoid airborne obstacles.”

The company provided additional information about its work with the FAA, including conducting flight demonstrations in the presence of inspectors to show that the drones operate in real-world scenarios. “We flew in the presence of real planes, helicopters and a hot air balloon to demonstrate how the drone safely moved away from each of them.”

Amazon says FAA approval will help it serve more customers and expand its delivery scale, starting in College Station, Texas. It was noted to be using drones to deliver medicines “quickly and affordably” via Amazon Pharmacy in select areas.

It was also revealed that it was working on a new MK30 drone, “an advanced aircraft unlike any other. It’s smaller, quieter, and can fly further than our current drone. It will also fly in the rain.”

Ina Steiner

Ina Steiner is the co-founder and editor of EcommerceBytes and has been writing articles on e-commerce since 1999. She is a widely cited authority on marketplace sales and author of Turn eBay Data Into Dollars (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book “Blogging Heroes” (Wiley 2008). He is a member of the Online News Association (September 2005 – present) and Investigative Reporters and Editors (March 2006 – present). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to [email protected]. See the disclosure at EcommerceBytes.com/disclosure/.