Amazon testing drone delivery in the UK

London - As US online giant Amazon was denied regulatory approval for its flying drones in America, the company has decided to look elsewhere for the trial of its Amazon Prime Air delivery service, namely the UK, the Netherlands and Canada.

Jeff Bezos, founder and Chief Executive Officer at Amazon confirmed that the company had being testing drones for delivery in the UK, the Netherlands and Canada during a Washington Post event on Monday. However, details regarding the drone delivery testing remain unclear. According to Amazon's website, the internet giant is currently developing and building its delivery drones in the US and Isreal, and with the majority of Amazon's current clientèle residing in the US, local drone delivery seems the most logical.

However, regulations regarding the flying of drones in the US for commercial reasons remains complicated as anyone who wishes to operate one for commercial purposes much be a licensed pilot and apply for a Section 333 exemption from the Federal Aviation Administration, which is given on a case-by-case basis.

Amazon and a number of drone advocacy organizations, such as the Small UAV Coalition, have called upon the FAA in the past to ease its current rules on drone flying as a number of Europe countries have less strict rules regarding the commercial use of drones which could see the US fall behind in drone advancement.

Although the FAA stresses that one of the reasons it is taking its time to finalize commercial drone rule is in regards to safety, police and counter-terrorist agency in the Netherlands, where Amazon has two head offices and is testing drones, is considering enforcing the aid of Guard From Above. The Dutch company trains eagles to take down drones and carry them out of control range from any potential threatening flyers.