Amazon Competes FedEx by New Airplanes

Amazon added nine planes to its Amazon Air fleet, the most it has added over a three-month span since its inception, according to the report by DePaul University’s Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development.

Amazon Air expanded rapidly during summer 2020, a period otherwise marked by sharp year-over-year declines in air-cargo traffic, the report states.

In contrast, CNBC News explained that Amazon’s $1.5 billion air hub in northern Kentucky could help give it an edge. The hub scheduled to open in 2021, is designed to have capacity for 100 Amazon-branded planes and handle an estimated 200 flights per day.

This hub appears to be the lynchpin to its efforts to develop a comprehensive array of domestic delivery services across the United States.

On other hand, it started to in-house its air cargo operations in 2014.T hirteen pilots who fly these planes previously explained that the pressure Amazon puts on its contract airlines undermines safety standards.

The average Amazon Air captain makes about 33% less than the average FedEx and UPS captain for flying the same plane once reaching the maximum years of experience, Business Insider reported.

DePaul University researchers explained in a last June 2020, policy brief that it's on track to expand to around 200 planes in next seven to eight years. This would make its air fleet larger than major cargo players like DHL, which has 77 planes, and Korean Air Cargo, which has 104.

Later, Amazon started initial negotiations to acquire 100 feddans in the city of New Sohag to establish warehouses to serve the Upper Egypt region to meet the growing demand for e-commerce products in the local market.

Informed sources said that the US e-ommerce giant has already contacted officials from the city of New Sohag to determine the available plots of land to choose the best location, especially since the company wants a large space that enables it to establish a warehouse complex for its various products.

In the meantime, officials in the new city are seeking to conclude the deal to ensure that it continues with the allocation procedures and start construction, especially since the city recently submitted an offer to sell a meter in warehouse land at a value of EGP 860.