Amazon's plans to launch drone deliveries in the UK have taken a step forward, with the business confirming it will start planning for initial flights from its Darlington warehouse.
The online retail giant launched Prime Air - its drone delivery service - in 2022 and has since delivered thousands of packages to customers in 60 minutes or less.
In 2023, the business revealed that it would launch the deliveries in the UK, Italy and a third location in the US.
Now,the company is "ready and excited to make drone delivery a reality for our UK customers".
The deliveries will take place from Darlington (Image credit: Amazon)
A spokesperson said: "We are announcing that Prime Air is taking steps to start planning for initial flights from our fulfilment centre in Darlington.
“While there is still much work to do, this is an exciting step forward. A planning application will be lodged with the local authority which will seek permission to build our flight operations facilities at the site, along with applying for authorisation from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to fly a drone in the airspace. Once those agreements are in place, we will be able to begin hiring team members to launch drone delivery."
They added: "We'll continue to work closely with the CAA as they develop the regulatory framework to make commercial drone delivery a reality in the UK.
"In the meantime, we will also engage with the Darlington community to answer questions and collect feedback as we seek to offer this new option for delivery."
A community event will be hosted at the Central Hall, in the Dolphin Centre, on Wednesday 5 February from 1pm until 7pm with more information.