Amazon earned federal permission on Monday to operate Prime Air delivery drones for unmanned package delivery.
The certification under the Federal Aviation Administration’s Part 135 rules allows Amazon the ability to carry property on small drones “beyond the visual line of sight” of the operator.
The first such certificate went to Alphabet-owned Wing Aviation in April 2019. Wing delivers food and pharmaceuticals to homes in Christiansburg, Virginia. UPS Flight Forward delivered the first package by drone on September 27, 2019, flying medical supplies to the WakeMed hospital campus in Raleigh, North Carolina. Other applications for certificates are pending.
Prime Air is working to provide 30-minute delivery of lightweight packages that are 5 pounds or less. It began testing in 2013 and has not yet announced where its first official deliveries will occur.
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