Amazon has just gotten approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to start using its Prime Air drone fleet for customer deliveries.<\/b>
\nIt has been a quiet time when Amazon first announced its Prime Air plans way back in 2013. After seven years, Amazon has just gotten approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to start using its Prime Air drone fleet for customer deliveries, according to Bloomberg reports. Prime Air\u2019s first delivery, fully autonomous with no human pilot, was in December 2016, and from click to delivery took 13 minutes. With this approval, Amazon can make deliveries with drones that could drop off packages within 30 minutes after orders are placed, allowing the e-tailing giant to start conducting drone delivery tests. As CNBC states, Amazon said it would use the FAA\u2019s certification to begin testing customer deliveries. The company said it went through rigorous training and submitted detailed evidence that its drone delivery operations are safe, including demonstrating the technology for FAA inspectors. \u201cThis certification is an important step forward for Prime Air and indicates the FAA\u2019s confidence in Amazon\u2019s operating and safety procedures for an autonomous drone delivery service that will one day deliver packages to our customers around the world,\u201d David Carbon, vice president of Prime Air, said in a statement. \u201cWe will continue to develop and refine our technology to fully integrate delivery drones into the airspace, and work closely with the FAA and other regulators around the world to realize our vision of 30-minute delivery.\u201d Lastly, Amazon is not the first drone operator to receive FAA approval. Alphabet subsidiary Wing and UPS are also operating FAA-approved trials.<\/p>\n