Amazon accelerates drone delivery: flying into 500 new cities

Amazon plans to roll out its Prime Air drone delivery service to nearly 500 US cities and towns by the end of this year. The service’s coverage will increase sixfold in one fell swoop, even though the drones themselves aren’t yet delivering without a hitch.

Eggs from the sky

According to David Carbon, vice president of Prime Air, Amazon has already “delivered hundreds of thousands of packages to customers” this year. Internally, he had previously aimed for 1 million drone deliveries by 2026. The expansion will soon bring Prime Air to cities including Chicago, Cleveland, and Atlanta. Amazon delivers packages weighing up to 5 pounds—about 2.3 kilograms—typically within an hour of ordering.