The Seattle-based e-commerce colossus has been developing drones as part of its massive investment in a logistics network to quickly deliver purchases to customers.SAN FRANCISCO - Amazon on Monday said a freshly-issued Federal Aviation Administration certificate has cleared the launch pad for drone deliveries in the US.
"This certification is an important step forward for Prime Air and indicates the FAA's confidence in Amazon's operating and safety procedures for an autonomous drone delivery service that will one day deliver packages to our customers around the world," Amazon vice president David Carbon said in reply to an AFP inquiry.
Package delivery giant UPS late last year obtained US regulatory approval to operate a"drone airline" and planned to expand its airborne operations in healthcare and other sectors. A variety of companies ranging from new startups to major tech firms such as Google-parent Alphabet are working on autonomous drone delivery.