Amazon Prime Air Seen Surging Fivefold to 200 Jets, Rivaling UPS
- Kentucky air hub could emerge as key to more national service
- Amazon now offers service to small a number of destinations
A Prime Air cargo plane sits on on display ahead of the Paris Air Show in 2019.
Photographer: Jason Alden/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Amazon.com Inc.’s Prime Air fleet will grow to about 200 planes -- up from 42 now -- in the next seven or eight years, creating an air cargo service that could rival United Parcel Service Inc., according to a study.
“At a time when many other airlines are downsizing due to the pandemic, Amazon’s push for faster and cheaper at-home delivery is moving ahead on an ambitious timetable,” said the report issued Friday by DePaul University’s Chaddick Institute of Metropolitan Development. “Amazon Air’s robust expansion makes it one of the biggest stories in the air cargo industry in years.”