Less than one month after resuming drone delivery following a voluntary two-month operational hiatus, Amazon’s Prime Air is eyeing its first service in a major U.S. city.
Amazon spokesperson Andy DiOrio told the Kansas City Star that Prime Air is considering moving into the Missouri metroplex. Kansas City would represent the company’s third and largest operation. Its population of half a million people dwarfs the number of customers it could reach with its other services in College Station, Texas, and Tolleson, Arizona.
DiOrio did not offer specifics and said plans for a Kansas City service remain in the early stages.
- READ MORE: Top Drones for Commercial Applications
Per the Star, the city this month approved an architectural firm’s request for a permit to expand a 220,000-square foot warehouse that Amazon has leased since 2023. The project includes four takeoff and landing pads, which according to city planning documents will not be visible from the road. City staff reportedly are not concerned about the service’s potential for disruptions.
“At this time, due to the scale and limitations of the Prime Air program, city staff does not anticipate negative externalities in terms of hours of operation, lighting, noise, and traffic generation from the subject site,” they wrote, according to a report viewed by the Star.
Elsewhere, residents of College Station have complained about noise from the drones buzzing overhead, and city officials urged the FAA to reject a planned expansion that would more than double the service’s footprint.
Prime Air has had a bumpy rollout in the decade-plus since Amazon owner Jeff Bezos promised to introduce 30-minute drone delivery. The service debuted more than two years ago in College Station and Lockeford, California, where operations were shuttered in 2024. In the years since, Prime Air has suffered from low demand, layoffs, key departures, and a handful of crashes at its test site in Pendleton, Oregon.
Amazon’s drone delivery pause was preceded by crashes in September and December, which a spokesperson told FLYING were not the “primary reason” for the hiatus. That would be a software upgrade to address a potential safety issue, which Prime Air discovered shortly after launching in Tolleson. There, the altitude sensors on its MK30 drone encountered more dust than in Texas.
With drone delivery back in action, Amazon appears keen on expanding the service to larger cities. In addition to Kansas City, the San Antonio Express-News earlier this month reported that it is seeking a permit to operate in San Antonio.
Publicly, Amazon has announced plans for an international expansion to Italy and the U.K., where it is among several companies participating in drone delivery trials. In January, it announced Darlington as its first U.K. commercial location.
Like this story? We think you’ll also like the Future of FLYING newsletter sent every Thursday afternoon. Sign up now.
