Amazon announced Monday it has picked the North England town of Darlington as the first site for its planned U.K. drone-delivery expansion.
Amazon was expected to expand Prime Air to the U.K. and Italy in 2024. After missing that initial target, the company opted to not share a timeline for this latest launch. Instead, the company has hedged its plans, noting in its announcement that it’s still in early stages and there is “still much work to do.” Amazon has yet to lodge its planning application with local authorities or the Civil Aviation Authority, the equivalent to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.
“Once those agreements are in place,” the company noted, “we will begin hiring team members to launch drone delivery.” Amazon has designated a specific fulfillment center in the town of 107,000. It will also solicit feedback from Darlington residents, regarding the expansion.
As with the United States, the U.K.’s regulatory body is a key early bottleneck for Amazon’s expansion plans. This is part of the reason it has opted for smaller cities and towns for trials, rather than the highly regulated air spaces above cities like New York or London.
Prime Air launched in June 2022 in Lockeford, California, and added College Station, Texas, the following month.
Amazon subsequently ceased California deliveries in April 2024, less than two years after launch, citing a decision to “prioritize [its] resources.” The company has remained in College Station and in November launched the service in West Valley, Phoenix. Amazon has since teased a third U.S. location it has yet to officially announce.
To date, Prime Air has delivered “thousands” of packages with a target time of under an hour via drones built in-house. Once the service is up and running, Darlington residents will be able to choose the Prime Air option for select items through Amazon U.K.
