Last Wednesday the company announced its first commercial drone delivery to an online customer in Cambridgeshire, England. The terrain was mostly flat as the drone landed over a field in the countryside, where it currently has two customers capable of receiving drone deliveries from its Prime Air service. Cambridgeshire is very flat.

Source: Twitter

The customer ordered an Amazon Fire TV stick and a bag of popcorn, and his delivery arrived in just 13 minutes. The drones are capable of flying at 50 miles per hour (80.5km/h), with an estimated delivery time of less than 30 minutes.

Prime Air UAV delivery interface (via Amazon)

Other than the rapid delivery times, another main benefit to using a UAV delivery service is that Amazon’s shipping fee can be as low as 65 British pence, according to an estimate developed by ARK Investment Management early last year. The main drawback is that the company’s drones can only carry packages up to 5 pounds (2.3kg), though official company documents suggest that about 86 percent of orders shipped from Amazon already weigh less than this amount.

Source: Business Insider

The reason Amazon was able to deliver in the UK first is because it managed to strike a partnership with the English government to test the delivery technology in rural and suburban areas. The English regulations say that they are not allowed to fly after dark, above 400 feet or during cold or wet weather. In the US, however, regulations are still very tight as the vehicles still need to remain within line of sight of the operator. This essentially limits deliveries to customers within a few miles of an Amazon distribution warehouse for now.

While online shopping continues to rise, customers still carry on making a majority of buying decisions based on shipping costs, and this  often determines which of several stores selling the same item will clinch the sale. Some reports estimate that even if drones end up making just a small fraction of the company’s deliveries, it will save on costs of hiring lorry drivers, along with reducing environmental pollution in one small way, or another, as a result.

Of course, not all English residents are thrilled about Prime Air delivery service, saying that the drones threaten wildlife and the countryside. “They are testing those drones here because they can’t do it in America,” said a woman called Julia Napier. “Whatever the Americans don’t want, I don’t want it, either.”