Amazon UK on Monday said it has started the process of launching its drone delivery service from in Darlington.
The retailer has announced its plans to launch drone deliveries in the UK through Prime Air in October 2023, a year after the service was launched in the US.
“Having already built safe and reliable drone delivery services elsewhere in the world in close partnership with regulators and the communities we serve, we are now working to do the same in the UK — and Prime Air is taking steps to start planning for initial flights from our fulfilment centre in Darlington,” the company said in a statement.
The company is set to file a planning application with the local authority to seek permission to build the flight operations facilities at the site, as well as applying for authorisation from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to fly drones in the airspace.
Once those agreements are in place, the company will begin hiring team members to launch drone delivery.
“We’ll continue to work closely with the CAA as they develop the regulatory framework to make commercial drone delivery a reality in the UK. In the meantime, we will also engage with the Darlington community to answer questions and collect feedback as we seek to offer this new delivery option,” the statement added.
Once the service is live, customers within the service area will be able to order items directly from the Amazon app or website.
Since launching in the US in 2022, Prime Air has safely delivered thousands of packages to customers in 60 minutes or less using a fleet of electric drones designed, built, and operated by Amazon.
