Amazon is ending Prime Air drone delivery in California as it eyes Arizona

Amazon is winding down its Prime Air drone delivery program in Lockeford, California — an early testing zone for a service that allowed native residents to order merchandise weighing as much as 5 kilos and get them delivered to their location by way of drone in half-hour.

In the identical press launch, Amazon additionally introduced that the corporate is launching a brand new Prime Air location in Tolleson, Arizona. The new location is anticipated to offer “same-day” deliveries to residents in the West Valley Phoenix metro space. Amazon expects to start operations in Arizona beginning later this 12 months.

The press launch doesn’t present a transparent purpose as to why the Lockeford location, which opened for enterprise in 2022, is closing, although it does say workers on the Lockeford location might be supplied “opportunities at other sites.”

Amazon states it will proceed Prime Air operations in College Station, Texas, and plans to open new areas in 2025. Meanwhile, the corporate’s newest MK30 drone — which is much less heavy and might fly via mild rain — is nonetheless present process testing, in accordance with the press launch.

Amazon had an early head begin to its drone delivery service in comparison with its opponents however has fallen drastically behind through the years. In 2013, then-CEO Jeff Bezos stated drone deliveries had been 4 to 5 years away.

The firm beforehand aimed to make 10,000 drone deliveries by the top of 2023; it was final reported that solely 100 deliveries had been made by the center of 2023. Meanwhile, rival delivery firm Zipline has reported finishing 1,000,000 deliveries as of April nineteenth.