Amazon said Wednesday it is planning a major expansion of Amazon Prime Air, its Amazon drone delivery service that it expects to be able to scale to nearly 500 cities and towns across the United States by the end of 2026.
Amazon drone delivery will expand to tens of millions of customers in an expansion that’s roughly six times the service’s current footprint, the company said Wednesday. The rollout is expected to bring the service to major metropolitan areas such as Chicago, Atlanta, Cleveland, Syracuse, and Boise.
Prime Air now operates in 10 U.S. metropolitan areas and 11 locations. Amazon says it has already delivered hundreds of thousands of packages by drone this year, a sign that the technology is moving beyond its limited early deployments.
The service is intended for smaller parcels of up to 5 lbs. As it grows its rapid-delivery network, Amazon is offering another way to compete on speed with eligible orders arriving in as little as 30 minutes. “Customers can order all sorts of things through Prime Air, including groceries, electronics, cosmetics, medications, and household essentials,” the company says. Amazon also emphasized its commitment to safety during the rollout, highlighting Prime Air’s “industry-leading Detect-and-Avoid system,” designed to help the drones operate in complex airspace and avoid obstacles.
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Amazon’s latest-generation MK30 drones will be able to fly autonomously and will have onboard sensing and navigation technology to avoid obstacles, a significant advancement for Amazon Drone Delivery. Each delivery site can serve a specific area around its launch point. The aircraft would not land at the customer’s property but hover above the destination and lower the package.
The rapid expansion also presents operational considerations, as Amazon continues to work with local authorities to obtain approvals in some communities and address ongoing concerns about noise, safety, and privacy in areas where drone deliveries are already happening.
Beyond the rollout challenges, the company also outlined its pricing structure: Prime members will get ultrafast drone delivery free on qualifying orders of $50 or more, while orders below the $50 mark will come with a $2.99 delivery fee.
The move is a big step for Amazon in its long-running effort to make autonomous delivery a practical part of its logistics network. Prime Air was first shown to the public in 2013, but years of testing, regulatory work, and technological development have been needed to get it into widespread use. If Amazon hits its target, Amazon drone delivery will go from a niche product in a handful of locations to a much more visible part of the company’s U.S. delivery operation by the end of this year.
