Amazon's E-Commerce Giants Found Amazon Air In India

JAKARTA Amazon.com Inc., has launched Amazon Air, a special air cargo fleet, in India as the e-commerce giant builds its logistics infrastructure in the foreign major market where they have deployed more than $6.5 billion.

Amazon has partnered with the Bengaluru-based cargo airline Quikjet to launch its first air delivery service in India, which will allow the company to speed up its delivery.

Amazon, which uses the Boeing 737-800 for the service, said it would initially use Amazon Air to deliver goods in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru. An Amazon executive described Amazon Air's launch as a "big step forward for the aviation industry" without explaining how.

Amazon launched Amazon Air in the US in 2016 with more than three dozen Boeing cargo planes. They also briefly tested the program in the United Kingdom. India is the third market where Amazon launched its delivery service.

The company says the air fleet covers more than 110 flights across 70 destinations worldwide and has invested "banks of millions of dollars" in its air logistics capabilities.

The move follows Amazon opening its transportation and logistics network to third-party traders, businesses and brands directly to consumers in the country late last year.

India's Amazon uses its own service for delivery of about 80-85% of orders and has opened its shipping branch to other sellers. The delivery itself is a business that can hit a large scale in India. So it makes sense for them to start in India, said Satish▁tata, an independent analyst who tracks the e-commerce sector in the country, as quoted by Techcrunch.

India is one of the major overseas markets for Amazon. But the company lags behind its main rival, Flipkart, which is supported by Walmart, in the country. Amazon has struggled to make breakthroughs in small cities in India," analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein said last year.

The company also closed at least three business units, Amazon Distribution wholesale distribution, Amazon Food food delivery, and the Academy learning platform, in India last year.