• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
TechAmazon

Watch Amazon’s Prime Air Complete Its First Drone Delivery

By
Don Reisinger
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Don Reisinger
Down Arrow Button Icon
December 14, 2016, 9:50 AM ET
Amazon delivery drone
Amazon delivery droneCourtesy of Amazon

Amazon has successfully delivered its first package with a drone.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos tweeted on Wednesday that Amazon last week successfully completed its first drone delivery as part of its Prime Air initiative. The package was delivered to a customer in the Cambridge area of England on Dec. 7, and made it to the person’s house just 13 minutes after the order was placed.

In a video describing the trial, Amazon (AMZN) says that trial customers around Cambridge are able to choose from “thousands of items” from its online store that are in stock at a Prime Air fulfillment center near their homes. Amazon employees place the ordered products into a Prime Air box and place it inside the drone. The electric drone then moves across a track outside the fulfillment center, and once all safety checks are completed by a person, they take off. According to Amazon, the drones take off, deliver products, and return on their own with no human involvement.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter

On the trip, the drones, using GPS to find their way, fly at no higher than 400 feet. Amazon is promising drone delivery within 30 minutes.

The idea for drone delivery through Prime Air was announced by Bezos in 2013. Since then, Amazon has been working with regulators to start testing the service, which could eventually see drones replace delivery services from traditional logistics companies.

Amazon relies heavily on the likes of UPS and FedEx to deliver packages to customers. And in recent years, Amazon has shown some interest in reducing its reliance on third-party companies to deliver packages. The move could ultimately save Amazon on shipping costs.

There are some limitations to a rapid Prime Air rollout. For one, most regulators around the world still have not yet finalized safety regulations on drones that would ultimately impact how Amazon could operate its service. And since drones can only travel so far, Amazon will need to establish strategically placed logistics buildings around the world to accommodate orders. Moreover, Prime Air drones can currently only carry packages of five pounds or less, leaving many of the items Amazon sells unable to be shipped by the method.

For more about Amazon, watch:

Still, a successful first delivery is a step in the right direction for Amazon, and the company says it plans to expand the trial in the coming months. For now, it’s working with just two customers as part of the trial, but plans to expand the number to “dozens of customers” who live within an unidentified number of miles from its Prime Air facility. Once that trial is complete, Amazon hopes to add hundreds more customers to the trial.

About the Author
By Don Reisinger
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Success
  • Tech
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Environment
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Health
  • Retail
  • Lifestyle
  • Politics
  • Newsletters
  • Magazine
  • Features
  • Commentary
  • Mpw
  • CEO Initiative
  • Conferences
  • Personal Finance
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map

© 2025 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.


Most Popular

placeholder alt text
Economy
America's $38 trillion national debt 'exacerbates generational imbalances' with Gen Z and millennials paying the price, warns think tank
By Eleanor PringleDecember 16, 2025
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Meetings are not work, says Southwest Airlines CEO—and he’s taking action, by blocking his calendar every afternoon from Wednesday to Friday 
By Preston ForeDecember 15, 2025
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Success
'I had to take 60 meetings': Jeff Bezos says 'the hardest thing I've ever done' was raising the first million dollars of seed capital for Amazon
By Dave SmithDecember 15, 2025
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Innovation
An MIT roboticist who cofounded bankrupt Roomba maker iRobot says Elon Musk's vision of humanoid robot assistants is 'pure fantasy thinking'
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezDecember 16, 2025
23 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Future of Work
The job market is so bad, people in their 40s are resorting to going back to school instead of looking for work
By Sydney LakeDecember 16, 2025
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Politics
Exclusive: After citations against Elon Musk’s Boring Company were suddenly withdrawn, federal regulators are now investigating Nevada OSHA
By Jessica MathewsDecember 16, 2025
13 hours ago

Latest in Tech

Bezos
Big Techphilanthropy
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos donate $5 million to neurodivergent education leader
By James Pollard and The Associated PressDecember 17, 2025
22 minutes ago
Zaslav
Big TechM&A
Warner Bros. shareholders were ‘consistently misled’ by Paramount, board says in rejection letter: There’s no Ellison family backstop, and never was
By Nick LichtenbergDecember 17, 2025
31 minutes ago
SuccessMillionaires
Tech CEO Bryan Johnson says he’ll make humans immortal by 2039—he just needs to sort out ‘buggy’ issues like ‘mistakingly causing cancer’ first
By Orianna Rosa RoyleDecember 17, 2025
58 minutes ago
NewslettersTerm Sheet
Databricks CEO Ali Ghodsi on where AI is most bubbly, and how the company settled on its $134 billion valuation
By Allie GarfinkleDecember 17, 2025
60 minutes ago
Innovationquantum computing
Quantum computing could be a $198 billion industry in the next 15 years, Jefferies analyst says
By Jim EdwardsDecember 17, 2025
2 hours ago
Databricks co-founder and CEO Ali Ghodsi (left) with Fortune editorial director Andrew Nusca at Fortune Brainstorm AI 2025 in San Francisco. (Photo: Stuart Isett/Fortune)
NewslettersFortune Tech
Databricks is now worth $134 billion
By Andrew NuscaDecember 17, 2025
2 hours ago