It sounds like there may be a little bit of competition on the way for delivery drivers who use vans to deliver parcels in the Darlington area up in the North East of England. Apparently, Amazon is hoping to be able to deliver parcels by drone in the not too distant future. Yes, that is correct – we did say by “drone”.

This would be a first in the UK but Amazon does make such deliveries by drone in a couple of locations in the USA. It is able to deliver parcels in up to one hour so it sounds like a very quick service.

The drone delivery service is called Prime Air.

The company is in the process of approaching the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to get clearance for its service. It is also approaching the local authority to apply for planning permission.

It is intended that drone flights will operate from its fulfillment centre in Darlington.

It will be holding a questions and answer meeting for local people shortly so if you are interested in attending why not make some enquiries in this respect.

No doubt courier drivers here in the UK who use the likes of vans to deliver parcels will be watching this situation with much interest. There will probably be a mixed reaction from delivery drivers with some possibly being concerned that their business could be affected. There may be some delivery drivers at some point in the future who would like to take an active part in delivering parcels by drone.

You may well be aware that drones are used for a variety of purposes here in the UK such as to take photos from the air of say a wedding and by armed forces to take photos.

We will of course endeavor to keep our readers up to date with developments in respect of the above. We are sure that there will be some courier drivers who will be keen to receive updates. If drone deliveries take off in Darlington will we see other locations coming on board to offer such a service?