Amazon plans to expand its drone delivery service to nearly 500 US cities and towns by the end of the year, reaching communities with tens of millions of customers.

This marks a sixfold increase from its current footprint.

Prime Air offers a wide selection of items by drone, including millions of groceries, electronics, cosmetics, medications and household products, delivered in as fast as 30 minutes.

Prime Air drones make thousands of deliveries daily in cities across seven states – Arizona, Florida, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska and Texas – with plans to launch in Georgia, Ohio, Illinois, Idaho and New York soon.

“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,” said David Carbon, vice president of Amazon Prime Air. “We’ve already delivered hundreds of thousands of packages to customers by drone this year and, by the end of 2026, we plan to reach customers in nearly 500 cities and towns.”

Prime Air (www.aboutamazon.com/news/tag/prime-air) plans to launch soon in: Chicago, Illinois; Syracuse, New York; Cleveland, Ohio; Atlanta, Georgia; and Boise, Idaho. More communities will come later this year.

Amazon recently launched Prime Air in Darlington, England (iotm2mcouncil.org/iot-library/news/smart-logistics-news/amazon-starts-drone-deliveries-in-uk/), marking the first time the drone delivery service has been available to shoppers outside the USA.

Nearly all items 2.3kg or less that fit in a large shoebox can be delivered by drone, meaning more than 60% of the items shoppers are most frequently purchasing from Amazon are eligible. Orders arrive in as fast as 30 minutes, with most orders arriving around 60 minutes after checkout.

Once the drone arrives at the preferred delivery point with an order, it will check to confirm there are no people, pets or vehicles in the way before delivering the package.

Prime Air holds Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Part 135 certification, the same framework used for commercial air carriers, representing the highest level of FAA oversight for drone delivery operations.

Onboard cameras and sensors are used for navigation, obstacle detection and safe delivery; they do not track individuals or record movements. There is no live camera feed monitored by any person. The onboard camera data are processed by the drone itself for safe navigation.

Prime Air also engineered the drones for real-world conditions, such as flying in light rain and a range of temperatures. They’re also fully electric with zero exhaust emissions. During drop-off, the sound level is below that of an idling delivery truck parked kerbside and lasts about 30 seconds. During flight at altitude, it’s comparable to a window fan on low and is typically not heard indoors.