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Phoenix became the latest city to see drone deliveries today, as Amazon announced the rollout of airborne orders to the West Valley Phoenix Metro area, close to its same-day delivery site in Tolleson.
Customers can order from a catalog of around 50,000 products including tech, health, household, office, and beauty products. Items must weigh five pounds or less to be deliverable by drone, and customers can set the drone delivery location for their address before checking out.
According to an Amazon spokesperson, via TechCrunch, the drone deliveries will only take place during the daytime and in “favorable” weather, not during heavy winds or heavy rain.
Amazon’s current delivery drone, the MK30, is designed for rainy weather and is reportedly around 50% quieter than its predecessor. It can also fly twice as far as the company’s previous drone, and was recently cleared by the FAA to fly beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) of the operator.
The MK30 has a nine mile range and top speeds of up to 50MPH, which should help Amazon fulfill its speedy delivery promise. The drones have already been used for test deliveries in College Station, Texas, where they have been delivering prescription medication since 2023.
This latest news comes several months after Amazon ended its Prime Air drone delivery program in Lockeford, California.
Rather than constructing standalone facilities for its drone deliveries, Amazon plans to integrate drone systems into its same-day delivery facilities to save money and make deliveries speedier. These same-day sites are positioned close to large metro areas and act as part fulfillment center, part delivery station.
Wing’s Delivery Drones Fly Farther and Faster Than the MK30
Amazon isn’t the only company delivering goods by drone in the US. Alphabet’s Wing, Amazon’s biggest drone delivery competitor, introduced a larger delivery drone in January that’s capable of delivering orders weighing up to five pounds.
Wing’s drones have also received permission to fly beyond visual line of sight of an operator and have a top speed of 65MPH with a 12 mile round-trip range, helping them outperform the MK30.
Wing currently delivers Walmart packages from two stores near Dallas/Fort Wort, to customers living within a six mile radius, as well as from some Walmart stores in Christiansburg, Virginia. The company also partners with Serve, Blue Bell Creameries, Texas Health, and Easy Vet. It plans to expand to Charlotte, North Carolina next.
The company also recently implemented a system which enables drones to take pickups and deliveries back to back, without the need to return to the base station. This could maketrips quicker, particularly as drone couriers become more commonplace in future.
Earlier this year, Amazon mentioned plans to bring drone deliveries to the UK and Italy by the end of 2024, but there was no update on that today.
