Amazon to expand drone deliveries to nearly 500 US cities and towns
Amazon has announced its Prime Air drone delivery service will reach nearly 500 US cities and towns by the end of the year, a sixfold increase in coverage.
Amazon has revealed plans to significantly widen the reach of its Prime Air drone delivery service, aiming to cover close to 500 cities and towns across the United States by the end of this year. That marks a sixfold increase over the service's current footprint.
The expansion will soon bring Prime Air to the metro areas of Chicago, Illinois; Syracuse, New York; Cleveland, Ohio; Atlanta, Georgia; and Boise, Idaho. Amazon says additional communities will be added later this year.
These new locations will join 11 existing sites across the US where the drone delivery service already operates. Each Prime Air location covers roughly 175 square miles.
Speed and scale
The service is designed to deliver packages weighing 5 pounds or less. According to Amazon Prime Air vice president David Carbon, the company has already delivered hundreds of thousands of packages by drone this year, with most orders reaching customers about 60 minutes after checkout.
Safety concerns
Alongside the expansion announcement, Amazon reiterated the safety features built into its drones, including what it describes as an industry-leading detect-and-avoid system. The emphasis appears aimed at easing concerns in communities where the service is launching, since Amazon's delivery drones have previously been involved in incidents including collisions with cranes, internet cables, gardens, and an apartment building.
