However, Jeff Bezos, the companys founder, claimed that it could take up to five years for the service to start. Via the project, parcels should reach customers within 30 minutes or less using unmanned aerial vehicles, BBC reports.
In July 2014, Amazon reported that it had sought permission from the US Federal Aviation Administration to test drones, called Octocopters, that could fly as fast as 50 miles per hour for up to 30 minutes at a time to deliver packages weighing up to 2.3kg (5lb). The US Federal Aviation Administration is yet to approve the use of unmanned drones for civilian purposes.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has approved the use of drones for police and government agencies and has issued about 1,400 permits so far. Civilian air space is expected to be opened up to all kinds of drones in the US by 2015 and in Europe by 2016.
Existing regulations are in place to minimise the risk of injury to people on the ground, said Dr Darren Ansell, an expert on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) from the University of Central Lancashire.
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