Amazon gets FAA approval to expand use of drones for online delivery orders

Amazon said it has received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to fly its delivery drones longer distances for online orders.

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Amazon said it will start expanding its delivery area, according to CNBC. That area currently is in College Station, Texas where the company already has been testing the delivery service.

Before the FAA’s approval, Amazon was required to fly its drone in the view of a pilot, according to CNBC.

“It means more Amazon customers than ever before will be eligible to choose from thousands of items for drone delivery, including household essentials and beauty and drugstore products,” Amazon said.

Amazon said it had tried to get this permission for years, according to The Associated Press. It finally got the approval after it came up with a strategy where its drones would be able to detect and avoid any obstacles while in the air. The company also conducted demonstrations “in the presence of real planes, helicopters, and a hot air balloon to demonstrate how the drone safely navigated away from each of them,” Amazon said.

“The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires that all commercial drone operators are able to maintain a line of sight to their drones until it approves a technology that can safely enable drones to fly beyond visual line of sight. Beyond Visual Line of Sight, known as BVLOS, is a term used in aviation to describe flying a drone where the remote pilot can’t see it directly with their own eyes,” the company said.

Amazon said it will start integrating drone deliveries into its network later this year with drones taking off from the current same-day delivery sites so customers can get items faster.

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