Amazon Expands Prime Air Drone Delivery to Nearly 500 U.S. Cities by Year-End

On Wednesday Amazon announced a six-fold increase in the footprint of its Prime Air drone delivery service, targeting “nearly 500 cities and towns” across the United States by the end of 2026. The rollout will add launch sites in Chicago, Illinois; Syracuse, New York; Cleveland, Ohio; Atlanta, Georgia; and Boise, Idaho, followed by additional communities later in the year. The service will continue to operate from existing sites in Arizona, Florida, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska and Texas, each covering roughly 175 square miles.

The Verge

Prime Air was first unveiled by Jeff Bezos on December 1, 2013, during a 60 Minutes interview. After a decade of development, the Federal Aviation Administration granted Amazon Part 135 air-carrier certification in 2020, allowing beyond-visual-line-of-sight operations. Early pilots in Phoenix and Dallas began commercial flights in 2022, but the program faced setbacks, including crane-strike incidents in Arizona (October 2025) and a cable-severing event in Texas. Safety pauses in early 2025 were resolved after FAA-approved software fixes.

TechSpot

• Current footprint: 11 sites in 7 states, serving about 175 sq mi each.

Amazon Prime Air Promises 500 Cities This Year, One 15-Mile Circle At A Time

• Planned footprint: roughly 500 municipalities, a six-fold increase.

Amazon Prime Air Promises 500 Cities This Year, One 15-Mile Circle At A Time

• Package weight limit: 5 lb (? 2.3 kg), covering more than 60 % of frequently ordered items.

TechSpot

• Delivery speed: advertised as “as fast as 30 minutes,” with most orders arriving around 60 minutes after checkout.

Amazon Eyes Sixfold Expansion of Drone Delivery Service

• Pricing: Prime members receive free drone delivery on orders >= $50; smaller Prime orders cost $2.99, and non-Prime customers pay $4.99.

Amazon Prime Air Promises 500 Cities This Year, One 15-Mile Circle At A Time

• Volume claims: Amazon reports “hundreds of thousands of packages” delivered by drone this year and projects 1 million deliveries in 2026, with a goal of half a billion packages annually by the decade’s end.

UsNews and World Report

Amazon’s vice president of Prime Air, David Carbon, emphasized safety, citing the “industry-leading Detect-and-Avoid system” that monitors airspace with onboard cameras and sensors. The firm highlighted its FAA Part 135 certification and existing waivers for beyond-visual-line-of-sight flights. Residents in several markets have voiced concerns about drone noise and privacy, though Amazon has not detailed specific mitigation measures.

Amazon Prime Air Plans Drone Delivery Expansion to Nearly 500 U.S. Cities and Towns

• Delivery volume: Carbon’s internal estimate projects 1 million deliveries in 2026, while other statements reference “hundreds of thousands” without a precise figure.

Amazon to Expand Drone Delivery to Nearly 500 US Cities — BigGo Finance

• Community reach: Amazon counts every municipality within a 175-square-mile radius toward the “nearly 500” tally, inflating the headline number relative to the actual number of launch sites.

Amazon Prime Air Promises 500 Cities This Year, One 15-Mile Circle At A Time

• Regulatory timeline: The FAA’s proposed rule to allow more operators to fly beyond the horizon remains unfinalized, leaving long-term scalability uncertain.

The Independent

• “Customers already turn to Amazon for fast Same- and Next-Day Delivery, and Prime Air provides them an even speedier option when they need it, with deliveries in as fast as 30 minutes,” — David Carbon, vice president, Prime Air

TechCrunch

• “Prime Air now has a design that’ll scale, plans to serve communities with 30 million customers by year-end, and expects to deliver half a billion packages by the end of this decade (with an aim to deliver inside 30 minutes),” — Andy Jassy, CEO

Associated Press

• “It’s still an experiment. It’s still in test and learn mode,” — Sucharita Kodali, Forrester retail analyst

UsNews and World Report