Retail giant Amazon has applied to expand its drone delivery service across the whole of Darlington, where it has been testing the technology since earlier this year.
The US company announced in January that Darlington would become its UK test centre, marking the first time its Prime Air service had operated outside the United States.
Amazon began a “limited” number of drone flights in February, allowing customers within a 7.5-mile radius of its County Durham site to receive selected items by drone.
Following more than 500 flights and deliveries, Amazon is now seeking approval from the Civil Aviation Authority to extend the service across the whole of Darlington.
Prime Air vice president David Carbon said Amazon expected to receive permission “very soon”, with the longer-term ambition of expanding drone deliveries across the UK.
Eligible customers in Darlington can currently receive certain orders within two hours, provided they have a garden, yard or driveway. Packages must weigh less than 5lb and be small enough to fit inside a large shoebox.
Staff at the Darlington site said the fastest delivery completed so far took just 39 minutes.
Carbon said the drone service could help keep “people off the road”. He added: “There’s lots of advantages that come with the drone, but most importantly for our customers, we’ve never had a customer say ‘send my package slower’. Speed is always critical.”
He acknowledged that there had been “some incidents” involving the drones, but said “its not a percentage that is high at all”.
An investigation was launched in July after a drone crashed into a garden in Darlington.
Amazon said nobody was injured and its initial assessment indicated that an object extending above the roof of a moving vehicle had come into contact with the drone.
A company spokesperson said “the drone responded as designed and came safely to the ground”.
