Amazon Plans Drone Deliveries in Nearly 500 US Cities by Year's End
The company says it has made hundreds of thousands of drone deliveries so far in 2025 and wants to reach 1 million by December. That would be six times its current coverage.
Key points
- Amazon plans to expand its Prime Air drone delivery service to nearly 500 US cities and towns by the end of 2025, up from roughly 80 locations today.
- The company says it has completed hundreds of thousands of drone deliveries so far in 2025 and is targeting 1 million by year's end.
- Competitor Alphabet's Wing, a drone delivery service run by Google's parent company, crossed 1 million commercial drone deliveries earlier in 2025 and operates in 20 US markets.
- Amazon drones currently carry packages up to 5 pounds within a 7.5-mile radius and deliver most orders in around 60 minutes.
- At least three official safety investigations into Prime Air incidents are currently open in the US and UK.
Amazon wants to deliver packages by drone to nearly 500 American cities and towns before 2026. That would be six times the number of places it reaches today, and it marks the most ambitious timeline the company has set publicly for a programme that Jeff Bezos, its founder, first announced almost 13 years ago.
The company said Wednesday it currently completes thousands of drone deliveries each day. An internal meeting recorded in March, first reported by CNBC, showed Prime Air vice president David Carbon telling staff he expects the service to hit 1 million deliveries across 2025.
What does this mean for ordinary shoppers?
If Amazon expands as planned, drone delivery could become a realistic option for millions more households. Most deliveries arrive in roughly 60 minutes, and some have completed in just a few minutes after checkout.
At the moment, Amazon drones serve 11 metro areas, concentrated near Dallas and Phoenix, with six more locations coming online soon. The drones carry items weighing up to 5 pounds, which covers a large share of everyday orders: phone chargers, over-the-counter medicine, snacks, small toys.
Amazon is also testing a "gentle delivery" system that uses a retractable cable to lower parcels to the ground rather than dropping them from 13 feet up. That change could open the service to fragile items like eggs.
How does Amazon compare with its rivals?
Amazon is not alone, and it is not leading.
| Service | Parent company | Deliveries to date | US markets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wing | Alphabet (Google) | 1 million+ (2025) | 20 |
| Zipline | Independent | 2 million+ | Multiple continents |
| Prime Air | Amazon | Hundreds of thousands (2025) | 11, expanding |
Alphabet's Wing crossed 1 million commercial drone deliveries earlier this year. Zipline, a startup, has made 2 million deliveries across four continents. Amazon is bigger in almost every other part of retail, but in drone delivery it is catching up, not setting the pace.
Should residents be concerned?
Some already are. People living near existing Prime Air zones have raised complaints about drone noise, privacy and the effect on property values. Those concerns have not disappeared as the service grows.
Safety questions are real too. Three separate official investigations are currently open. The US National Transportation Safety Board is looking into a October 2024 incident where two Amazon drones hit a crane in Tolleson, Arizona. The Federal Aviation Administration, the US body that regulates air travel, opened a separate probe after a drone snapped an internet cable in Waco, Texas in November 2024. And the UK's Air Accidents Investigation Branch is examining a crash in Darlington, England, where a Prime Air drone came down in a garden after contacting an object on a moving vehicle. Amazon says no one was hurt and the drone landed safely.
Carbon described the Arizona collision as "a humbling experience" and said the company has since retrained the software that spots tall structures like cranes.
Common questions
Can I order a drone delivery from Amazon right now?
Only if you live near one of the 11 metro areas currently served, mostly around Dallas and Phoenix. Amazon has not announced which new cities will join the roughly 500-city target by year's end.
Is drone delivery safe?
Amazon says its safety record is strong, but three official investigations into recent incidents are still open. Regulators in the US cleared Amazon for long-range drone flights in 2024, and the company is required to meet strict aviation rules.
