Amazon to expand drone service to nearly 500 cities after targeting 1 million deliveries this year

Amazon said it plans to expand Prime Air drone deliveries to nearly 500 U.S. cities and towns by year-end, a sixfold increase from its current footprint. Management said the service has already completed hundreds of thousands of deliveries this year and is targeting 1 million deliveries in 2026. The rollout follows a key FAA greenlight for longer-range drone deliveries and reflects Amazon’s push to make ultra-fast delivery a bigger part of its logistics network. The update is positive for Amazon’s long-term delivery capabilities, but the article also highlights ongoing operational and regulatory risks, including prior drone collisions, FAA/NTSB probes, and community concerns about noise and privacy. Competitors such as Alphabet’s Wing and Zipline remain ahead in commercial scale, so the news is more about strategic expansion than near-term financial impact.