Image copyright Wing

Drone home delivery company Wing has been approved as an airline by the US Federal Aviation Authority.

It means the company will start delivering goods in rural Virginia within months.

Wing, owned by Google's parent company Alphabet, says the drones will carry food and medicine from local shops.

In order to receive the certification, it said it had proved that its drone deliveries carry a lower risk to pedestrians than those made by cars.

Although other companies' drone delivery services have received approval for test flights, Wing is the first to be approved as an airline in the United States.

This is likely to make it easier for other companies to receive approval in the future.

The new "airline" status means the drone company is subject to the same regulations as chartered flights, allowing it to deliver cargo and travel longer distances than other drone companies.

Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority granted Wing approval to launch a home delivery service earlier in April.

Its initial launch partners there included a coffee shop and ice cream shop.

But residents in the test area of Canberra had complained about the noise produced by the drones.