Amazon accelerates drone deliveries: service to expand to 500 cities by year-end
Amazon plans to expand its Prime Air drone delivery service to approximately 500 U.S. cities by the end of the year. This move signals a significant boost for the project initiated 13 years ago.
Amazon announced today that it plans to offer drone deliveries in approximately 500 cities and towns in the USA by the end of the year — a sign of renewed momentum for the project initiated by the company's founder, Jeff Bezos, 13 years ago. The planned expansion of the Prime Air service will increase the scope of operations sixfold, according to the company.
Amazon's latest move comes five months after David Carbon, Vice President of Prime Air, presented the service's ambitious growth plans at an internal company meeting. Carbon estimated at the time that Prime Air would complete one million deliveries this year, and said that Amazon has "the most in-demand drone delivery service in the industry." The company said today that it has completed hundreds of thousands of deliveries so far this year, and that it is performing thousands of them daily.
Bezos, who stepped down as CEO five years ago, promised in 2013 to create a drone network that would deliver small packages within half an hour or less. Since then, the project has faced regulatory delays, employee layoffs, technological challenges, and opposition from residents in some of the areas where trials were conducted.
In 2024, Amazon received approval from the regulator to conduct long-range drone delivery trials, and in recent months has expanded the service from Dallas and Phoenix to 11 additional urban areas. Six more areas are expected to join soon. However, residents in areas where the service operates continue to express concerns regarding noise, privacy violations, and a decrease in property values.
"Amazon hopes to turn drone deliveries from a futuristic idea into a central part of its delivery services," the company stated.
After winning loyal customers thanks to two-day delivery, the company moved to offer one-day and even same-day delivery, while simultaneously attempting to offer ultra-fast deliveries as part of the Amazon Now service. Most Prime Air aerial deliveries currently arrive within 60 minutes, but the company said that some deliveries were completed within a few minutes of the product purchase.
