Millions more American shoppers could soon receive lightweight parcels by air, after Amazon announced on Thursday a plan to extend its drone delivery service to nearly 500 US cities by the end of the year. The move follows a regulatory approval that clears the way for longer-range flights.
The expansion would grow Amazon’s drone operation more than sixfold, reaching suburban communities across metro areas including Chicago, Atlanta, Cleveland and Boise. The company said customers in eligible zones could receive orders in as little as 30 minutes, with drones carrying packages weighing up to 5 pounds.
For a household, that means small items — a phone charger, a bottle of vitamins, a paperback — arriving on the back lawn within half an hour rather than a day later. The aircraft will fly mainly over suburbs, kept well clear of skyscrapers and major airports where crowded airspace poses risks.
The push intensifies a delivery-speed contest with Walmart, as both retailers blend drones and human drivers to shorten wait times. Amazon has projected roughly 1 million drone deliveries this year, and hundreds of thousands of packages have already been flown in 2026.
Behind the numbers, drone shipping still handles only a sliver of the hundreds of millions of packages Amazon moves annually. The 5-pound ceiling rules out most orders, and the machines contend with tree cover, dense landscaping and even inflatable backyard pools that can obscure a safe drop zone.
Regulatory clearance must also be secured community by community, and noise from the aircraft has drawn objections in some neighborhoods where trials have run. “It’s still an experiment. It’s still in test and learn mode,” said Sucharita Kodali, a retail analyst with Forrester.
Amazon is far from alone in betting on airborne logistics. Delivery drones have already reshaped last-mile service in parts of Asia, where operators such as Meituan’s aerial network in Shenzhen have run commercial routes for several years.
Whether the technology can move beyond novelty depends on cost, reliability and public acceptance. For now, most customers in the newly added cities will keep receiving the bulk of their orders by truck — with drones reserved for the smallest, most urgent items that fit under the weight limit.