Amazon.com Inc.‘s (NASDAQ:AMZN) Prime Air, a drone delivery service, is set to expand its operations to nearly 500 cities and towns across the U.S. by the end of 2026.
In a blog post on Wednesday, the company revealed the expansion plan for Prime Air, indicating a sixfold increase from its current footprint. “We’re pairing the convenience of ultrafast drone delivery with the low prices and selection customers love about Amazon," said David Carbon, vice president of Amazon Prime Air.
Amazon’s drone delivery service plans to launch soon in Chicago, Syracuse, Cleveland, Atlanta and Boise, with additional communities expected to be added later this year.
The company also disclosed that it has already made hundreds of thousands of deliveries this year, with thousands being made daily. This puts Amazon at the forefront as the “highest demand drone delivery service in the industry.”
Amazon’s latest update comes five months after Prime Air VP David Carbon projected 1 million drone deliveries in 2026, in an internal all-hands meeting, calling it the industry’s highest-demand drone delivery service, reported CNBC.
Carbon said in March that customers continue to expect faster deliveries and that the company has not yet reached a point where further speed improvements provide diminishing returns.
Amazon’s Drone Push Meets Stiff Competition
Amazon’s drone delivery service has been a significant contributor to its delivery capabilities. In 2025, the company delivered over 13 billion items globally at record speeds, with more than 8 billion items reaching U.S. Prime members the same or next day. This represented a 30% increase in U.S. same- or next-day deliveries compared to the previous year.
However, the drone delivery service has faced challenges. In early 2025, the e-commerce giant had paused commercial drone delivery in Texas and Arizona following the crash of two of its latest models at a testing facility in rainy weather. The company had to fix the aircraft’s software before resuming operations.
Meanwhile, Amazon also faces steep competition from established rivals in the drone delivery space. Alphabet Inc.’s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) subsidiary, Wing, has surpassed 1 million commercial deliveries and operates in 20 U.S. markets through its partnership with Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) and DoorDash Inc. (NASDAQ:DASH), while Zipline has completed 2 million deliveries across four continents.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Photo: Jonathan Weiss / Shutterstock.com
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