Amazon Air adds another 15 cargo aircraft

This week, Amazon used the Paris Air Show to announce it's growing the number of aircraft it operates through Amazon Air with 15 new cargo planes.

Amazon already operates five Boeing 737-800 cargo aircraft, and is now set to add 15 more by leasing them from GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS), which makes sense when you consider buying one costs over $100 million. All of the new aircraft will operate within the U.S. and each can carry roughly 79 tons of cargo.

Last December, Amazon announced Air had expanded from 40 to 50 aircraft, so why is it adding another 15 so quickly? Dave Clark, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Operations at Amazon, explains, "These new aircraft create additional capacity for Amazon Air, building on the investment in our Prime Free One-Day program."

Back in April, Amazon announced that it intended to make one-day shipping the standard on Amazon Prime. In order to achieve that goal, $800 million was going to be spent in the second qurter to build out infrastructure. Clearly, adding extra air cargo capacity was part of that spend, but the investment in Amazon Air is set to continue with Clark also pointing out the fleet will grow to 70 aircraft by 2021.

In order to support the additional aircraft and get goods to Prime subscribers within one day, Amazon is also opening three new air facilities this year. They will be located at Fort Worth Alliance Airport, Wilmington Air Park, and Chicago Rockford International Airport. Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport will act as the main Amazon Air Hub, but it won't open until 2021.

With air transport clearly in hand, Amazon can now focus on ground transport and in particular convincing employees to accept $10,000 and three months pay in return for becoming an Amazon delivery driver.