Drone Wars! Walmart expands drone deliveries in Dallas as it battles Amazon for air superiority - get ready for more buzzing overhead

Walmart is expanding its drone deliveries to most of Dallas Fort-Worth areaCompany has spent two years trialing the tech and has sent 20,000 deliveriesIt will race Amazon to be at the center of the futuristic delivery service  

Walmart is rolling out drone deliveries that can transport products to customers in less than thirty minutes to the majority of the Dallas Fort-Worth area.

The retailer – the biggest in the US – is in a race with major firms such as Amazon to be at the center of the futuristic delivery option. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos first expressed interest in drone deliveries in 2013.

Walmart says it has spent the last two years trialing drone deliveries, sending 20,000 packages this way.

But now it is expanding the service to 75 percent of the population in the Dallas Fort-Worth metro area – which covers over 30 towns. Executives claim it will be ‘the largest drone delivery footprint of any US retailer.’

Prathibha Rajashekhar, Walmart’s innovation boss, said: ‘This expansion will bring the ultimate convenience of drone delivery to communities across the Dallas area.

Walmart is rolling out drone deliveries that can transport products to customers in less than thirty minutes to the majority of Dallas Fort-Worth

‘Customers will have access to a broad assortment of items from Walmart available for delivery to their home in just minutes.

‘Drone delivery is not just a concept of the future, it’s happening now and will soon be a reality for millions of additional Texans.’

The service is powered by on-demand drone providers, Wing and Zipline. Both firms are approved by the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) to fly without a dedicated observer.

A Walmart spokesman told the Wall Street Journal that it already offers drone delivery in six states. But the latest expansion in Dallas will be the first time it has rolled out the service to so many households in one region.

The firm claims deliveries take less than 30 minutes and can be as quick as ten minutes, adding shoppers generally use it for last-minute impulse purchases.

The most popular items delivered by drone include snacks and beverages, it said.

Interest in drone deliveries was sparked after Amazon founder Jeff Bezos unveiled plans to start using the tech to CNBC in 2013.

Since then, however, Amazon’s progress has been mired in chaos as the company blamed regulatory hurdles from the FAA.

Walmart has already spent two years trialing drone deliveries and claims to have sent over 20,000 packages this way.

The retailer already offers drone delivery in six states but the latest expansion in Dallas will be the first time it has rolled out the service to so many households in one region

Last May it was reported that Amazon had only completed 100 deliveries in two US markets: California and Texas.

It fell well below internal projections that suggested the firm would complete 10,000 deliveries by the end of 2023.

Amazon spokesman Av Zammit told CNBC at the time: ‘While the FAA broadened Prime Air’s authority to conduct drone deliveries to include sites in California and Texas, the phased process for expanding our service areas is taking longer than we anticipated.’

In October the firm said drone deliveries would be expanded into a third US state as well as cities in Italy and the UK by the end of 2024 – though it did not provide further details.