Amazon plans its first UK drone deliveries

Online retailer Amazon is hoping to launch a drone delivery service in the UK.

The proposed Prime Air fleet will aim to deliver packages to homes in less than an hour from its fulfilment centre in the north-east England town of Darlington, County Durham, more than 400km from London.

The US technology company said it was now lodging planning applications with the local authority and was seeking clearance from the Civil Aviation Authority regulator for the service.

Prime Air operates from two places in the US so far and delivers packages in a fleet of Amazon-designed, built and operated drones.

Last month in central Italy, the company's drones flew a first test flight from the town of San Salvo in the Abruzzo region.

The drones can make drops to small back gardens and detect obstacles such as clothes lines and trampolines.

Amazon said it was “ready and excited” to make drone delivery a reality for UK customers.

“We have built safe and reliable drone delivery services elsewhere in the world in close partnership with regulators and the communities we serve, and we are working to do the same in the UK,” an Amazon representative said.

“Prime Air is taking steps to start planning for initial flights from our fulfilment centre in Darlington. A planning application will be lodged with the local authority which will seek permission to build our flight operations facilities at the site, along with applying for authorisation from the CAA to fly a drone in the airspace.”

Amazon said the service will be optional in its catchment area, and eligible customers will be allowed to sign up through their Amazon account.

The company said it did not have a time frame on when the service could be launched but it will be talking to the community to address any concerns.

Amazon has been developing drone delivery systems since 2013 and made the first autonomous Prime Air delivery in Cambridgeshire in 2016 during a trial.

The new service will be offered from its 94-acre site, which opened during the coronavirus pandemic, which has more than 11km of conveyor belts.

Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen hailed Amazon's move, saying the area was “grabbing the opportunities and the optimism of the tech revolution”. He said it would support high-quality jobs, deliver vital multi-million-pound investment to the local economy and drive growth.

Amazon's team spent two years developing its latest MK30 drone which has been making deliveries in Arizona. It is 50 per cent quieter than earlier drones and can fly in the rain.

“Since starting drone delivery in 2022, we’ve delivered thousands of items to customers in less than an hour. We also began delivering prescription medications in partnership with Amazon Pharmacy to customers in Texas,” Amazon said.

Amazon's drone goal is to deliver 500 million packages globally by the end of the decade and last year announced it will also be expanding drone deliveries to more US cities in 2025.

Abu Dhabi's postal service and the UK's Royal Mail have also flown delivery drones on a trial basis.

Aramex, the Middle East's biggest courier company, has tested drone deliveries in Oman, a first step in streamlining its business with emerging technologies and reducing its carbon footprint.

Last month Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, launched a drone delivery service in Dubai.

Keeta Drone, a subsidiary of Chinese technology and retail company Meituan, has been awarded a licence by Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA) to deliver food and medicine across Dubai Silicon Oasis (DSO) during the first phase of the project. It is planning to deliver to a third of Dubai by 2030.

Drone deliveries, seen by the industry as the next evolution in the logistics market, are expected to improve efficiency, with faster delivery times and a sustainable model designed to cope with user demand and comply with environmental goals.

The drone package delivery market is projected to reach about $5.6 billion by 2030.