Google Affiliate Begins Drone Deliveries In Virginia Town

A Google affiliate started using drones to deliver customers’ Walgreens and FedEx purchases in a test being run in a Virginia town.

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Wing, which is owned by Google parent Alphabet, received federal approval earlier this year to make commercial deliveries by drone. It was the first drone company to receive the approval in the U.S., beating out Amazon’s Prime Air, which revealed its drone plans in 2013.

Earlier this month, UPS also got approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to fly delivery drones. The company has been running delivery tests with WakeMed’s hospital campus in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Wing partnered with Walgreens, FedEx and local gift shop Sugar Magnolia to perform the tests in Christiansburg, Virginia. Walgreens customers in the town will be able to order from a list of more than 100 items and get them delivered to their doors by drones.

The first Walgreens drone delivery customers ordered cough and cold medicine. A Wing drone also delivered a FedEx package from Dick’s Sporting Goods to another family in town.