Amazon is expanding its Prime Air drone delivery service to nearly 500 additional US cities and towns, according to a company announcement covered by The Verge. The new locations will join 11 existing Prime Air sites across the country, each of which covers an area of roughly 175 square miles. Amazon says the service is designed to quickly deliver packages weighing up to 5 pounds. Most orders placed through the service arrive about 60 minutes after checkout.
The expansion builds on what Amazon reports as significant early usage. David Carbon, vice president of Prime Air, stated that drones have already delivered “hundreds of thousands of packages to customers” this year. That figure covers all current Prime Air locations, and the new rollout appears aimed at broadening the service’s reach into more communities. The company did not specify a timeline for when the new delivery zones would become active.
Amazon also highlighted the safety features built into its drone fleet as part of the announcement. The company emphasized what it calls Prime Air’s “industry-leading Detect-and-Avoid system,” which is designed to help drones navigate around obstacles. This appears to be a direct response to concerns from residents in areas where the service is expanding.
Those concerns are not without precedent. Amazon’s delivery drones have previously come under scrutiny for a series of crashes and incidents. Reports have documented drones hitting cranes, internet cables, gardens, and even an apartment building. The new safety messaging is likely intended to reassure local communities that the system has been improved before the service reaches their airspace.
The expansion targets a broad geographic footprint across the US, bringing drone delivery to a much larger customer base. For consumers, the promise of hour-long delivery for small items could change expectations for online orders in participating areas. For Amazon, the move strengthens its logistics network in a highly competitive US delivery market.
Regulatory oversight remains a key factor in how quickly the service can scale. While the company is moving ahead with hundreds of new sites, each location must still operate within federal aviation rules. Amazon’s emphasis on its detect-and-avoid technology suggests it is positioning that system as a core safety credential as it seeks to gain and maintain approval for wider operations.
The announcement did not include specific details on which cities or towns are included in the expansion. It also did not address how the new sites will be phased in or whether the service will be available to all customers in those areas from day one. What is clear is that Amazon is betting heavily on drones as a regular part of its delivery infrastructure, not just a pilot program.
