U.K. Government Delivers Partnership Agreement To Amazon For 'Prime Air' Drone Trial

Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN's ambitions to deliver its products to clients via drones is one step closer toward becoming a reality. Amazon Prime Air represents the future of Amazon's delivery service in which the company can deliver a package weighing up to five pounds to a customer in 30 minutes or less using small drones.

Amazon announced on Monday it reached an agreement with the U.K. government to explore what necessary steps are needed to make its vision a reality.

Related Link: FAA, DoT Finalize Drone Rules: Check Them Out!

The UK Civil Aviation Authority granted Amazon permission to explore three key areas of innovation for its drone testing:

• 1. Beyond line of sight operations in rural and suburban areas
  2. Testing sensor performance to make sure drones can avoid obstacles
  3. Flights where one person operates more than one highly-automated drones

"The UK is a leader in enabling drone innovation — we've been investing in Prime Air research and development here for quite some time," said Paul Misener, Amazon's Vice President of Global Innovation Policy and Communications. "This announcement strengthens our partnership with the UK and brings Amazon closer to our goal of using drones to safely deliver parcels in 30 minutes to customers in the UK and elsewhere around the world."

A successful outcome from the agreement involves Amazon and the U.K. government gaining sufficient knowledge of how drones can be used in the logistics industry. For the wider drone category, the partnership could clear up and identify operating rules and safety regulations to help move the drone industry forward.