Amazon has launched Amazon Air, a dedicated air freight fleet in India, as the e-commerce giant beefs up its logistics infrastructure in a key foreign market with over $6.5 billion.
The retailer has partnered with Bengaluru-based cargo carrier QuickJet to launch the country’s first air cargo service. Amazon uses Boeing 737-800s for this service.
Amazon launched Air in 2016 with more than 30 Boeing freighters in the United States. I also briefly tested the program in the UK. India is her third market where Amazon has launched freight services.
(Amazon calls its airfreight service Amazon Air, but confusingly the plane still uses the Prime Air moniker, although the latter unit is now considering drone deliveries.)
The move follows Amazon opening its transportation and logistics network to third-party merchants, businesses and direct-to-consumer brands in the country late last year.
“Amazon India uses its own service for delivery of approximately 80-85% of its orders, opening up its delivery sector to other sellers. Delivery itself can achieve massive scale in India. So it makes sense for them to launch this in India,” said Satish Meena, an independent analyst who tracks the country’s e-commerce sector.
India is one of the important overseas markets for Amazon. But the company lags behind his biggest domestic rival, Walmart-backed Flipkart. Amazon is struggling to expand into India’s smaller cities and towns, analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein said last year.
The company also closed at least three business units in India last year: wholesale distribution Amazon Distribution, food delivery Amazon Food, and learning platform Academy.
(This is a developing story.)
