Amazon launches drone delivery in Phoenix

Amazon drone delivery has taken flight in the West Valley of metro Phoenix with its new Prime Air service. 

The online retail giant is now offering drone delivery to select Phoenix-area residents living near its same-day delivery warehouse in Tolleson, Ariz, Amazon announced last week. 

The MK30 drone developed by Amazon can make deliveries by air in less than an hour and is available for items weighing five pounds or less. 

“The MK30 is quieter than previous models. Prime Air’s Flight Science team custom designed the propellers to reduce the MK30’s perceived noise by almost half. Even as the drone is descending, its sound is still quieter than the range of sounds you’ll generally hear in a neighborhood,” Amazon said in October 2023, when it announced it had completed development of the drone.  

The drones will deploy from facilities adjacent to the Tolleson delivery site, which it described as “part fulfillment center, part delivery station.”

“Our same-day delivery sites are situated close to the large metro areas they serve, which means customers get their orders faster. And with connections to the larger Amazon fulfillment centers nearby, we are able to offer same-day delivery on millions of items,” according to Amazon.

Amazon said in a press release that its MK30 drone received aerospace certification in collaboration with the Federal Aviation Administration. The company added that it plans to expand the program in the coming months but did not give details. 

An Amazon spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comment. 

Amazon has been testing drone delivery in College Station, Texas, since October 2023, through delivery of prescription medications to Amazon Pharmacy customers. The retailer allowed eligible Amazon Pharmacy customers to select “free delivery” at checkout to receive the medications by air in less than an hour.

Amazon’s drone program launched about a year after Walmart began its own drone delivery service in metro Dallas in the fall of 2023, through a partnership with Wing, a drone company owned by Google parent company, Alphabet.