Amazon is pushing forward with its plans for a drone delivery fleet.
Today it announced that it’s begun deliveries to two customers in the UK, and will be expanding that to dozens, possibly hundreds, in the coming months.
The service is restricted to small items for now, focusing on delivering packages up to five pounds in 30 minutes or less.
On December 7th, 2016, Prime Air delivered its first order — an Amazon Fire TV and bag of popcorn — using a highly automated drone.
According to a press release, it took 13 minutes from customer click to package delivery at a home near Cambridge, UK.
Amazon is starting its trials in the UK, not the US, because regulators there have granted it several important permissions.
Amazon can operate these drones beyond line of sight in rural and suburban areas.
And because the drones can sense and avoid obstacles, the UK is allowing flights where one person operates multiple highly automated drones.
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