Amazon revealed on Friday to Nexstar’s KTXL that it has started using drones to deliver packages to consumers in Lockeford, California, and College Station, Texas.
Six months since it was first revealed, the Lockeford operation has now officially begun.
“Our aim is to safely introduce our drones to the skies. We are starting in these communities and will gradually expand deliveries to more customers over time,” Natalie Banke, Amazon Air spokesperson said.
Amazon has been collaborating with the Federal Aviation Administration and municipal authorities in Lockeford and College Station to deploy the service, which it calls Prime Air.
After a consumer has been “onboarded” and orders a product, the firm says a drone would hover in the customer’s backyard, drop to the level of the item, and then take off. The aim is to deliver shipments of around five pounds in less than 60 minutes, as per Amazon officials in a blog that was published earlier this year.
The firm announced plans for a fresh phase of drones last month which are scheduled to start shipping products in 2024.
When delivery service becomes operational in a specific location, the firm will let its consumer know.
Amazon secured FAA regulatory approval to fly between Lockeford, about 50 miles to the south of Sacramento, and College Station, home to Texas A&M University’s main campus, closer to Houston, to begin the service.
A week ago, within Amazon’s latest attempt to switch from a quick global epidemic rise to a downturn in virtual development, Amazon.com Inc. is attempting to market any spare room on its cargo flights.
In recent months, officials with expertise in promoting cargo room for flights have been recruited by the e-commerce giant, which owns a fleet of approximately 100 aircraft in the United States and Europe. One of the suggestions, according to two of the sources, is to carry salmon and pineapples into empty planes going to be back from Alaska and Hawaii. The objectives were however not confirmed by an Amazon source.