Amazon to expand drone delivery to nearly 500 US cities by 2026

Amazon has announced plans to expand its Prime Air drone delivery service to nearly 500 US cities and towns by the end of 2026, a sixfold increase from its current footprint. The company said customers could receive deliveries in as fast as 30 minutes, with drones capable of carrying packages up to 5 pounds.

The expansion will bring drone delivery to new communities, including the Chicago, Atlanta, Cleveland, and Boise metro areas, according to reports from multiple outlets. Amazon said the service is currently available in Tolleson, Arizona; Ruskin, Florida; Kansas City, Kansas; Papillion, Nebraska; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Hazel Park and Pontiac, Michigan; Richmond, San Antonio, Richardson, and Waco, Texas. The company said additional communities would be added later this year.

A growing but still small operation

Amazon said it has already completed hundreds of thousands of drone deliveries this year, but even after the expansion, drones will handle only a fraction of the hundreds of millions of package deliveries the company makes annually. The drones face challenges from tree cover, landscaping, and inflatable pools that can make it difficult to find a good drop zone, and regulatory hurdles and noise concerns remain in every community where Amazon wants to operate, as reported by several outlets.

Sucharita Kodali, a retail analyst at Forrester, called the program "an experiment" and said it is still in "test and learn mode," according to multiple reports.

Pricing and delivery details

Drone delivery is free for Prime members on orders over $50, costs $2.99 for Prime members on smaller orders, and $4.99 for non-members, as reported by several sources. Amazon says the drones cover more than 60% of its most frequently ordered items, including groceries, electronics, cosmetics, and medications, though the 5-pound weight limit restricts what can be delivered.

Most orders arrive about 60 minutes after checkout, according to one report, while Amazon's promotional materials emphasize the 30-minute promise. The MK30 drone cruises at about 73 mph and 200 to 300 feet high, can fly in light precipitation and winds over 20 mph, and drops parcels from about 13 feet up, according to one report.

Regulatory framework and safety record

Amazon holds Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Part 135 certification and has waivers to fly drones beyond the line of sight, according to multiple reports. The federal government has proposed a rule to allow drone operators to fly beyond the horizon, but it has not been finalized.

Amazon's safety record has drawn scrutiny. In October 2025, two drones hit a crane in Tolleson, Arizona, drawing investigations from the NTSB and the FAA. In November, a drone snapped an internet cable in Waco, Texas, triggering federal investigations, as reported by multiple outlets. David Carbon, vice president of Amazon Prime Air, told an internal meeting in March that the program would make a million deliveries this year, and Amazon says it has already made hundreds of thousands. Amazon reiterated its focus on safety, highlighting its Detect-and-Avoid system, which it says lets drones make real-time safety decisions independently, according to reports.

Competition heats up

Amazon's expansion intensifies the competition with Walmart, which offers drone delivery at more than 75 stores across five states and plans to expand to 270 locations by 2027, according to multiple reports. Walmart declined to comment on Amazon's announcement because it was scheduled to report earnings the next day, as reported by several outlets. Alphabet's Wing has passed a million commercial deliveries this year, and Zipline has completed two million deliveries across four continents, according to reports.

England's capped operations

While Amazon's US expansion is rapid, its operation in England is tightly restricted. The only British site, in Darlington, operates weekdays only, capped at 10 flights per hour and 100 deliveries per day, within a 7.5-mile radius, as reported by one outlet. An MK30 drone crashed in a garden at Beaumont Hill, Darlington, on 29 July, and the Air Accidents Investigation Branch has opened an accident inquiry. The Civil Aviation Authority's trial permission for the Darlington site expires on 31 December, meaning the renewal decision will land while the accident investigation is open, according to the same report.

The broader context

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos first described his vision for drone deliveries on "60 Minutes" more than a decade ago, and the company has since worked to make the service a reality. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said in an April letter that Prime Air flies in 11 sites, each covering about 175 square miles, and plans to serve 30 million customers by year-end and deliver half a billion packages by the end of the decade, as reported by multiple outlets. The company says Prime Air offers the widest selection of items by drone, including millions of groceries, electronics, cosmetics, medications, and household products, though that claim appears in only one report.

DoorDash and other delivery companies are experimenting with using drones to deliver foods and other goods, and Amazon Now, the company's ultrafast delivery service, has expanded to 80 cities and towns in the US and several in Egypt, available in nine countries and over 250 cities, according to one report. Amazon Now pricing is $3.99 for Prime members and $13.99 for non-Prime, the same report said. Amazon delivered more than 40% of items same day or overnight in the first half of the year, according to FreightWaves.

The Amazon Now expansion and the wider push for faster delivery come as Home Depot announced a nationwide rollout of express delivery on Tuesday, and Walmart is rapidly growing same-day and three-hour delivery, as reported by FreightWaves. Amazon's drone delivery remains a small part of its logistics network, but the company is betting that speed will keep customers loyal. As Amazon expands, the drones will primarily fly in suburban zones, away from skyscrapers and major airports, to reduce risks.

The launch of Prime Air in Memphis, Tennessee, has been delayed from its June target date, according to a source who attended local government briefings, as reported by FreightWaves. The company has not given a new timeline for Memphis.

The expansion to nearly 500 cities is scheduled for the end of 2026, according to the official press release and most reports, though some articles say "by the end of the year." Amazon's announcement Wednesday (some outlets say Thursday) outlined the plan, which will bring drone delivery to tens of millions of customers across the country, as stated in the press release quoted by 9to5Mac.