Amazon announced on Sunday that it will cease commercial drone delivery operations in Italy, pausing expansion of its Prime Air program in the country. The e-commerce giant said in a statement that it had reviewed its strategic plans and decided to halt the plans.
Amazon reported that “Despite positive engagement and progress with Italian aerospace regulators, the broader business regulatory framework in the country does not, at this time, support our longer-term objectives for this program.”
This move follows only a year after the company successfully conducted initial drone delivery tests in San Salvo, a municipality in the central Abruzzo region, in December 2024. Amazon had envisioned launching commercial operations in Italy in 2025, pending full approvals.
The civil aviation authority of Italy, ENAC, termed the move as an unexpected one and stated that it looked like it was connected to the company policy and “recent financial events involving the Group.”
The failure is an indication of ongoing challenges for Amazon’s ambitious Prime Air initiative, which seeks to deliver packages using autonomous drones in order to provide ultra-fast delivery.
As the company has been successful in aerospace approvals, wider regulatory frameworks, such as business, privacy, and operating regulations, still present challenges in a number of markets.
Thus, Amazon is still very determined to deliver via drone in selected areas, where it has been testing and operating in a few parts of the U.S. and scaling internationally.
