FAA Approves Amazon's Prime Air Drones for Beyond-Visual-Line-of-Sight Flights

Amazon has received a Part 135 certificate from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), allowing the company to operate delivery drones beyond the visual range of their operator. This is the same license category held by small airlines and charter operators, and Amazon now joins a small group of companies holding it for drone operations.

The approval seven years in the making

Amazon's Prime Air project has been in testing since 2013, when the company first unveiled its vision of delivering packages by air within 30 minutes of an order being placed. Since then, the company has repeatedly run into the main regulatory obstacle preventing any drone delivery operator in the US from truly launching commercially: the requirement to fly within the operator's visual line of sight. The newly granted certification removes that barrier, at least in part, and opens the door to testing at commercial scale.

In practice, Amazon has already begun running commercial-scale trials out of Pendleton, Oregon, immediately after receiving the certification. This marks an intermediate stage between closed technological testing and an open service for customers.

What exactly does the new license permit?

The Part 135 certificate is a regulatory classification best known from the light commercial aviation sector, also covering charter operators. Applying it to drones changes the rules of the game for Amazon, providing a legal foundation for expanding its delivery operations.

• Announcement date: August 31, 2020
• Approving authority: US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
• License type: Part 135 Air Carrier Certificate
• Key permission: Flight beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS)
• Stated goal: Delivering packages up to 2.3 kg (5 pounds) within 30 minutes of ordering
• Commercial testing location: Pendleton, Oregon

A very exclusive group of license holders

Only a handful of companies in the US hold this type of license for drone operations, making Amazon's entry into this group a significant competitive event. The certification does not automatically turn Prime Air into a service available to the general public, but it does allow the company to plan limited delivery trials for select customers only.

The practical question that remains open concerns the pace at which Amazon will be able to expand operations beyond local trials. An operating license is a necessary but not sufficient condition for turning drone deliveries into a profitable business model on a national scale. Questions of infrastructure, safety when flying over populated areas, and airspace capacity still await practical answers before anyone can talk about a service available to the masses.