Amazon expands its dedicated air cargo services to northeastern region

Amazon has expanded its dedicated air cargo network, Amazon Air, to the Northeast with new Delhi-Kolkata-Guwahati routes aimed at cutting transit times and improving delivery speeds

E-commerce giant Amazon on Friday announced the expansion of its dedicated air cargo service, Amazon Air, to India’s northeastern region, with new routes connecting Delhi to Kolkata and Guwahati. Union Minister of Civil Aviation, Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu, flagged off the inaugural flight to Guwahati from Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport. 

 

The expansion is part of Amazon’s broader plan to invest $35 billion in India by 2030. 

The company said the move is expected to cut transit times and improve delivery speeds by up to five times. The aircraft will initially operate thrice a week on the new routes, said Abhinav Singh, vice president of operations in India and Australia. 

Amazon currently operates two dedicated cargo aircraft that connect the northern, western and southern regions of the country. With the addition of the new routes, the service will now also ferry orders to and from the northeastern states, including Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. The company had initially launched its dedicated air service in 2023.  

The initiative also aims to provide a boost to sellers and customers based in the region, especially Prime members. “For customers, this means access to Amazon’s vast selection at five times better speeds than before, while sellers and entrepreneurs in the northeast can now reach customers across India faster and more reliably,” Singh said. The company has more than 18 lakh sellers and a significant number is from the northeast, he added.

 

Speaking to Business Standard on the growth opportunity in the region, Singh said, “It is very dynamic. A large number of our new Amazon customers, who are buying with us for the first time, come from the Northeast  of India. As the internet penetration and mobile phone usage is increasing rapidly, the infrastructure build-out is very rapid in and to that area. With that, we see more and more people coming online and buying.” 

 

On how the company navigates geopolitical tensions and external challenges, such as the current conflict in West Asia, Singh said, “What really helps is first principles and tenets which make decision-making easier… We work on those.”

 

Amazon Now crosses 300 micro fulfillment mark

 

Amazon Now, the ecommerce platform’s quick commerce service, has achieved its target of opening 300 micro-fulfillment centers by the end of calendar year 2025. “We are well past the 300 number. I don't have a new number to share, but we are continuing to expand that service both in terms of depth, and opening newer cities,” Singh said.

 

Amazon Now operates in three cities: Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore.