Amazon launches drone delivery in Phoenix
Drone delivery of Amazon orders is taking flight in a new metro area and state.
Amazon is starting drone delivery in the West Valley of the Phoenix metro area in Arizona. Customers who live near the e-tail giant’s same-day delivery site in Tolleson, Ariz. that purchase an eligible item weighing five pounds or less can have it delivered by drone in under an hour.
Customers will have access to a drone delivery assortment of more than 50,000 everyday essentials—including household products, beauty items, and office/tech supplies—which Amazon says is its largest selection of items ever to be available for fast drone delivery at a service fee.
For the first time, Amazon’s new MK30 drone will deploy from facilities next to one of its same-day delivery sites. These smaller sites are hybrid, meaning they are part fulfillment center, part delivery station, and are designed to let Amazon fulfill, sort and deliver products all from one site to increase speed of delivery from time of order.
The MK30 drone, which is also making deliveries of household products including prescription medications in College Station, Tex., has received FAA approval to begin operations to customers., including the ability to fly beyond visual line of sight using an on-board detect and avoid system. A remote pilot relies on instruments or technology to monitor and control the drone at all times.
According to Amazon, the approval will allow Prime Air to further expand drone deliveries and lays the foundation to scale operations to more locations in the U.S.
[READ MORE: Amazon gets federal approval to expand drone deliveries]
Amazon initially received an Air Carrier Certificate from the FAA in 2020 that allowed the company to operate as an airline and deliver small packages via drone.
"We look forward to continuing to learn from customers and communities as we methodically expand this program in months and years to come," Amazon said in a corporate blog post.
The MK30, which went through an aerospace-grade certification process in collaboration with the FAA, flies twice as far as Amazon’s previous drones and is built to be about 50% quieter to the human ear and to fly in rainy weather.
