The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has allowed Amazon to conduct drone test flights in Washington state, a move that seems to soften its rules on commercial drone operations.

The FAA announced on Thursday it has issued an experimental airworthiness certificate to Amazon, to conduct test flights using its prototype delivery drones.  The drone flights will be limited to private, rural land in Washington state.

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The regulators' approval marks a victory for Amazon, which is pursuing a delivery system using unmanned aircrafts.

However, the experimental permit binds Amazon to certain rules.  Drones can only be flown at 400 feet or below during the day and in clear weather conditions.  The unmanned aircrafts must stay in direct line of sight of their operators, who must be a private pilot certificate holder at the least.  The drone operator is also required to have a medical certification.

The company is required to supply FAA with a monthly data detailing its test flights.  The information shall include the total number of flights conducted, names of operators and communication or hardware malfunctions during test flights if there were any.

Another limitation that comes with the permit is that Amazon can only use one particular drone design in all of its test flights.  The company must apply for another certification, should it choose to modify the drone specifications.

While the permission from the FAA is covered by strict rules, it's still big news for the Seattle-based company, which can now run test flights in the U.S. at the very least.  Amazon had only been conducting test flights in countries with looser restrictions like India.

Amazon had been struggling to bring their drone-delivery service dubbed as "Prime Air" off the U.S. grounds.  But a set of FAA guidelines on drone operations issued last month turned out to be huge punch against the company's plans.

"Prime Air" develops drones that can fly at 80 kph, operate autonomously and equipped with sensors to be able to avoid objects.

The permission to test flights in the U.S. may just be Amazon's first step in slowly turning the "Prime Air" dream into a reality.

TagsAmazon, drones, prime air, US, FAA, commercial drones