Drone deliveries expand to 8,000 homes in Darlington after Amazon wins safety approval
Prime Air drones will be able to fly further and over urban areas
Amazon is expanding its drone delivery service to around 8,000 households in Darlington from today (Tuesday 1oth Nov), after securing a safety approval from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
Customers in the area will be able to receive selected orders by drone in under an hour.
Until now, the Prime Air service has been available to just 600 customers in Darlington.
It launched earlier this year and was the first time Amazon had rolled out the service outside the US.
What the approval means
Amazon has been granted a Sail 4 operating authorisation and flightworthiness validation by the CAA.
The company says this means its drones can travel further and fly over urban areas, paving the way for a much wider UK rollout.
Amazon claims the approval is the first of its kind anywhere in the world.
Theunis Scheepers, the company's director of Prime Air in Europe, said: "This is just the beginning for Prime Air in the UK."
He added that securing the approval had taken years of engineering work, with safety at the heart of the project.
How the service works
Customers can order selected everyday products through Amazon and have them dropped off at their home in less than 60 minutes.
The service is included with Prime membership, so there is no extra delivery charge.
For now, deliveries are limited to items weighing less than 5lb (around 2.3kg) and small enough to fit inside a large shoebox.
Customers also need a suitable outdoor space, such as a garden, yard or driveway.
The deliveries are made by Amazon's all-electric MK30 drone.
Amazon says the drone uses machine-learning technology to spot and avoid hazards during flight, including other aircraft, people, animals, clotheslines and trampolines.
The company also says the drones are quieter than a typical delivery.