Amazon to launch Prime Air delivery drones to Arizona city

Amazon will bring its Prime Air delivery drones to a new U.S. city this year.

The tech giant on Monday identified the West Valley portion of Phoenix as the next American city slated to get the drones and their delivery services. 

Amazon said it was aiming to introduce the technology to West Valley customers later in the year.

It will first require the company to get its Federal Aviation Administration and local government approvals lined up. It said it was "currently working" with officials on that.

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The drones will fly out of a site beside its Tolleson same-day delivery location in what the company described as its "first time" they will be "fully integrated" into its network.

Amazon simultaneously revealed Monday it would stop operating the drone facility it has run in Lockeford, California, since 2022. That city, which is northeast of Stockton, will still have access to other types of deliveries, per the tech giant.

It cited a strategy to "prioritize our resources to continue growing the program" as the reasoning for the closure.

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Meanwhile, its Prime Air drone deliveries in College Station, Texas, will remain available, with its sights set on additional places in America next year.

In the fall of last year, Amazon also indicated it wanted to offer the drone deliveries in Italy and the U.K. using its MK30 drone, on top of a new location in the U.S.

Another major retailer, Walmart, has also been working on its own drone delivery. In January, it increased the number of households in the Dallas-Fort Worth area with access to the service by 1.8 million. 

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It performs deliveries by drone in zip codes located in several other states too, according to its website.

Daniella Genovese contributed to this report.