The e-commerce behemoth Amazon launched Amazon Air, a dedicated air freight fleet, expanding its logistics network in India, where it has invested over $6.5 billion. The retailer announced that it will establish its first air freight service in the country in collaboration with Bengaluru-based cargo carrier Quikjet, enabling the company to speed up deliveries. Amazon declared that it would use Amazon Air to ship goods to Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru first. For the service, Amazon is using a Boeing 737-800.
Without elaborating, an Amazon executive called the introduction of Amazon Air “a major step forward for the aviation industry.”
Amazon Air, which makes use of more than 30 Boeing freighter aircraft, was launched in the US in 2016. Additionally, the programme was briefly tried in the UK. India is the third market where Amazon has launched its freight service. The company claims that Air runs over 110 flights each day to 70 different sites across the world and has invested “hundreds of millions of dollars” to improve its air logistics operations.
(Amazon calls its air freight business Amazon Air; yet, confusingly, the Prime Air name is still used on the aircraft, despite the fact that the latter entity is currently considering drone deliveries.)
The action comes after Amazon in the nation late last year allowed enterprises, direct-to-consumer brands, and third-party merchants to use its transportation and logistics network.
“Amazon India uses its own services for delivery of around 80-85% of orders and has opened up its delivery arm to others sellers. Delivery itself is a business which can achieve massive scale in India. So it makes sense for them to start this in India,” said Satish Meena, an independent analyst who tracks e-commerce sector in the country.
India is one of Amazon’s most significant global markets. But across the country, the company is falling behind Walmart-backed Flipkart. Sanford C. Bernstein analysts from the previous year claim that Amazon has had trouble establishing itself in India’s smaller towns and cities. At least three Indian business units, including the learning platform Academy, the food delivery service Amazon Food, and the wholesale distribution company Amazon Distribution, were also shut down by the company last year.
