The leading e-Commerce company Amazon has purchased 11 aircraft to increase its delivery capacity. The company has purchased used 11 jets intending quick delivery of the goods ordered by the customers.
Amazon has purchased its first fleet of planes — 11 used Boeing 767-300 jets from the US Delta Air Lines and Canadian air-carrier WestJet.
Earlier, the company had been renting aircraft for transporting goods. In the coming days, the company will deliver goods from all the leased and purchased aircraft. However, the company has not disclosed the amount paid for the purchase of the aircraft.
The company launched its air operations in 2016 with leased aircraft and has been heavily investing to build its growing air freight network.
The company aims to have a fleet of over 85 planes by the end of 2022, delivering products globally.
The company has also set up package sorting hubs at the airport and also operates a warehouse near the airport.
The additional 11 Boeing 767-300 planes would “support Amazon’s growing customer base, the company wrote.
Experts say buying its own aircraft will allow Amazon to become a credible competitor in logistics.
In the past, the company found it cheaper to handle logistics itself rather than using third parties, and since 2015 it has built its own global end-to-end logistics network with its own vans, trucks, and aircraft.
Amazon is now likely to be a larger supply chain provider than either FedEx or UPS in just a few years, with the potential to launch as an independent carrier in the US – and then perhaps globally.
Chicago DePaul University estimates that Amazon’s fleet is likely to grow to 200 aircraft by 2028.
In 2019, Amazon delivered an estimated 2.3 billion packages in North America, largely comprised of goods purchased on its own platform.
That’s compared to 3.1 billion and 4.7 billion total packages delivered – purchased through many different websites – on FedEx and UPS, respectively.
However, analysts at US bank Morgan Stanley – first reported by CNBC – estimated that Amazon would overtake UPS and FedEx in the total volume of parcels delivered in the US by 2022.
