The FAA clears the way for Amazon to expand its drone delivery service

Amazon has received approval to fly delivery drones longer distances without the need for ground observers. This used to be a problem for the company but has been resolved.

Previously, Amazon could only fly drones when they were within the pilot’s line of sight. Now drones could fly long distances and even beyond the observer’s line of sight.

According to CNBC, one of the areas where it would expand is College Station, Texas. The company has previously conducted tests in this area.

The approval comes after the company developed collision avoidance technology onboard drones that would enable them to detect and avoid obstacles in the air. This technology is one of the main features of drone supply companies. This includes Zipline and BVLOS.

Since Jeff Bezos abandoned his drone delivery service more than a decade ago, the company has already been struggling.

Just last year, there were layoffs at PrimeAir that were actually part of massive cuts at Amazon. In addition, there have been executive departures from the company and some regulatory setbacks.

Despite this, Amazon does not abandon projects to provide drone delivery services. It plans to expand its operations to other cities by 2025, and its goal remains to deliver around 500 million parcels a year using drones.

Amazon said it now plans to scale its operations immediately to reach more customers in densely populated areas, AP revealed.