An aviation landmark is reached in America today, with the first drone delivery sanctioned by the Federal Aviation Administration. Flirtey, an Australian startup, working with NASA and Virginia Tech, will deliver drugs to a remote medical clinic as part of a test programme. Although some have claimed it to be a world first, it is more a case of America catching up after regulators dragged their feet over licensing commercial drones. These are already used for surveying, search and rescue, aerial photography and crop-monitoring in many other countries. Indeed, Flirtey has been delivering books in Australia and auto parts in New Zealand. In Europe, DHL last year began drone deliveries to Juist, an island off the German coast, and Switzerland’s postal service is experimenting with drones to carry loads of up to 1kg (2.2lb). At last regulators in the world’s largest aviation market are getting to grips with a new industry.