Amazon is expanding its Prime Air drone delivery service to nearly 500 U.S. cities by the end of the year, according to a company announcement.
Prime Air currently operates in 11 locations across 10 metro areas in Arizona, Florida, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska and Texas. It will soon add Chicago, Atlanta, Cleveland, Syracuse, N.Y., and Boise, Idaho, metropolitan areas, with additional communities coming later this year.
Drone delivery recently launched in Darlington, England as Amazon’s first international market.
Amazon said Prime Air can deliver millions of eligible products, including groceries, medications, electronics and household goods. Nearly all products weighing five pounds or less and fitting inside a large shoebox are eligible, representing more than 60% of the items customers most frequently buy from Amazon.
Deliveries can arrive in as little as 30 minutes, although Amazon says most arrive about an hour after checkout. The fee is $4.99 for a drone delivery with a $2 discount for Prime members; it is free for orders of at least $50.
Amazon said the drones monitor the surrounding environment and make navigation and safety decisions while in flight.
When a drone reaches a customer’s property, it checks whether people, pets or vehicles are obstructing the delivery area before releasing the package. Cameras and sensors process navigation information aboard the drone rather than transmitting a live camera feed to a human operator, according to Amazon. It is fully electric and can fly in light rain and a range of temperatures, the company said.
But the drones have been in a few accidents, Reuters said, such as two drones colliding with a crane in Arizona last October, Reuters reported. The accident is being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board.
The technology also faces regulatory obstacles. Amazon must obtain local regulatory approvals for new locations, while communities have raised concerns about noise, privacy and safety, according to The Wall Street Journal. However, Amazon said the noise is similar to a window fan on low while in flight.
Economics remain another challenge. Amazon and competitors including Walmart have been working to reduce the cost of individual drone deliveries enough to compete with vans, cars and bicycles, the Journal reported.
Amazon has stiff competition, too. Walmart is expanding drone delivery with Alphabet’s Wing, while Uber this week announced a partnership with Zipline to reach 1 million drone deliveries per day, according to the paper.