Received approval to begin testing in the UK. A key step in growing a multi-million dollar business.
Amazon, the e-commerce giant, is every moment getting closer to being able to deliver products door to door with drones. As a start to this ambitious project received approval from the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to begin testing.
The approval was also given to five other companies that will participate in an initiative promoted by the CAA to test the drones on various projects.The novelty lies in the fact that drones can be used beyond the visual field, so they can travel longer distances and thus achieve the goal that Amazon has been pursuing for years with its Amazon Prime Air division, dedicated exclusively to the delivery of packages by drone.
According to reports, the tests will seek to prove the drones’ viability in other projects, from air traffic control to inspecting critical infrastructure, such as offshore wind farms. This will be the foundation Amazon needs to be able to deliver packages with its Prime Air service in the UK.
During this testing, key safety data will be collected detailing how the drone detects and avoids other aircraft, as well as its communications with air traffic controllers.
Sophie O’Sullivan, the current director of the CAA, described the test as groundbreaking and said it represented “significant progress in the safe integration of drones into UK airspace.” The goal of all this, the directive says, is to enable these beyond-line-of-sight drone operations to be carried out in a “safe and everyday” manner.
Delivering packages by drone is one of Amazon’s most ambitious projects and could revolutionize the multi-million dollar business worldwide. Drone deliveries are already operational in Lockford, California and College Station, Texas and landing in the UK would be a gateway to other countries in Europe.
Drone delivery promises to become a more important business in the near future, which is why companies like Wing, a subsidiary of Alphabet, and Walmart, which partners with Zipline, are also exploring and developing this type of service.
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