Amazon To Test Prime Air Drone Delivery In UK, Again

Amazon has been listed alongside other organisations that will take part in a trial to test the use of drone flights to remote locations.

The UK aviation regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) announced on Thursday the “organisations set to take part in new trials which will see drones used in everyday life. The trial will include testing drone deliveries to consumers, inspections of infrastructure and flights to remote locations.”

It comes as the British regulator makes progress on plans to “modernise the UK airspace and enable integration of new technology in our skies.”

Meanwhile across the pond in America, the FAA in May approved Amazon’s expansion of drone deliveries in the US from its initial test sites in College Station, Texas and Lockeford, California.

UK trials

Now this week the UK’s CAA has authorised six projects to conduct for trials under a new UK Civil Aviation Authority scheme.

The regulator said it “has chosen the trials to take place that will help safely integrate drones flying beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) of their operator into UK airspace, helping to make this vital extension to drone flying an everyday reality.”

It said that BVLOS flights will be carried out at distances beyond the flyer’s ability to see the drone. These flights use advanced technologies for navigation, control and to detect other aircraft.

The following firms will take part in the trials:

• Amazon Prime Air; (consumer drone deliveries)
• Airspection; (inspecting offshore windfarms)
• National Police Air Service; (NPAS) (exploring uncrewed aircraft use in policing)
• NATS; (BVLOS inspections over the North Sea)
• Project SATE; (Sustainable Aviation Test Environment) (flights to Orkney)
• Project Lifeline; (medical deliveries)

The CAA said the trials will gather key safety data, such as how drones detect and avoid other aircraft, the electronic signals they can send to be able to be visible to other airspace users and air traffic control.

“These innovative trials mark a significant step forward in integrating drones safely into UK airspace,” said Sophie O’Sullivan, director of future of flight at the CAA.

“By supporting projects ranging from consumer deliveries to critical infrastructure inspections, we are gathering essential data to shape future policies and regulations,” said O’Sullivan. “Our goal is to make drone operations beyond visual line of sight a safe and everyday reality, contributing to the modernisation of UK airspace and the incorporation of new technology into our skies.”

The CAA noted however that further permissions will be needed before trials can actually begin.

Amazon drone deliveries

The concept of drone deliveries has been under development at Amazon for over a decade now.

Amazon had begun plotting to use drones for deliveries, ever since first mooting the idea back in 2013.

The plan was that drones could deliver packages weighing up to 2.3 kilograms.

Amazon at one stage also patented the idea of a possible floating mothership retail hub (a warehouse in the sky) for drone deliveries above stadiums etc.

It should be noted that Amazon had already tested drone deliveries in the United Kingdom.

This occurred when Amazon began testing its delivery drone service in Cambridge back in July 2016. A package was delivered, by drone, in just 13 minutes.

Despite that, Amazon currently does have currently have permission to operate drones in the UK, although in October 2023 it said that its customers in the UK and Italy would have the option to get their packages delivered by a drone from late 2024.

In the US, the expansion of drone deliveries had faced years of regulatory hurdles, delays and the departure of some executives.

A significant number of Prime Air workers were let go in the US last year and back in 2020.

The service faces competition from Alphabet’s Wing as well as Walmart (which has partnered with Zipline).