The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has granted Amazon approval to test its new delivery drone in Arizona.

• The Federal Aviation Administration has granted Amazon approval to fly its newer, smaller delivery drones beyond the visual line of sight of pilots.
• The company intends to increase deliveries in a city situated to the west of Phoenix, Arizona.
• Over a decade since Jeff Bezos first proposed the idea, the Prime Air drone program has been gradually advancing.

On Tuesday, the company received regulatory approval to start flying a smaller, quieter version of its delivery drone, marking the latest milestone in its ongoing efforts to launch the futuristic program.

In November 2022, the company introduced the MK30 drone, which boasts the ability to fly through light rain and has twice the range of previous models.

The Federal Aviation Administration has granted Amazon permission to fly the MK30 over longer distances and beyond the visual line of sight of pilots. In May, the agency granted a similar waiver for Amazon's Prime Air program, but it was limited to flights in College Station, Texas.

Matt McCardle, head of regulatory affairs for Prime Air, announced that the company will start making drone deliveries near Phoenix, Arizona on Tuesday, following FAA approval. In April, Amazon revealed its plans to launch drone operations in Tolleson, a city west of Phoenix, after shutting down an earlier test site in Lockeford, California. The company will use the drones to speed up deliveries by integrating Prime Air more closely into its existing logistics network.

On October 31, the FAA granted Amazon permission to carry out beyond visual line of sight deliveries in Tolleson.

More than a decade ago, Jeff Bezos first revealed plans for the ambitious Prime Air service, stating that it could be operational within five years. However, despite Amazon's significant investment in the program, progress has been slow. Prime Air has faced regulatory obstacles, missed deadlines, and experienced layoffs last year, which coincided with CEO Andy Jassy's cost-cutting efforts. Additionally, the program has lost key executives, including its primary liaison with the FAA and its founding leader. To manage the operation, Amazon hired former executive David Carbon.

The city's mayor in College Station wrote to the FAA and CNBC about the noise levels caused by drone deliveries, prompting Amazon executives to identify a new launch site by October 2025.

Besides Amazon, there are other companies, such as Wing, owned by Google parent , and startups like Zipline and Matternet, that are also trying to improve delivery through drones.

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