Amazon said it has partnered with Quikjet Cargo Airlines to launch Amazon Air which will initially look to deliver goods in cities like Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Delhi and Mumbai.
The local arm of the tech giant runs around 50 fulfilment centres across India along with a seller base of 1.1 million.
“We continue to invest in speed. We have invested in delivery infrastructure to strengthen the delivery network. Today, we are launching Amazon Air,” said Akhil Saxena, VP, consumer fulfilment–APAC, MENA LATAM–worldwide customer service , Amazon.
“This will help ship goods faster from our fulfilment centres to last-mile deliveries,” Saxena added.
Last week, ETtech reported that Amazon had infused an additional Rs 400 crore in its local shipping arm Amazon Transportation Services.
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In June 2022, Amazon Transportation had received around Rs 375 crore, we had reported.The fund infusion has come at a time when Amazon is increasing its seller base as well as product catalogue on the platform.
Amazon India had said previously it aims to onboard at least a ‘couple of million more’ sellers and increase the user base to around 500 million here.
ETtech reported previously that Amazon had decided to open up its logistics business to other ecommerce companies, competing with the likes of third-party logistics players like Delhivery, Ecom Express and Xpressbees.
Amazon Transportation reported total revenue of Rs 4,581 crore in FY22, a 12.6% jump from the year-ago period. Its total revenues were Rs 4,068 crore in FY21.
Net losses for the shipping services arm also widened by over 38% to Rs 95 crore in FY22 from Rs 68.7 crore a year ago.
Rival Flipkart has also opened up its logistics arm, e-Kart, to other ecommerce businesses.
All of this comes as Amazon in India and globally has been sacking employees.
Chief executive Andy Jassy said that over 18,000 people would be laid off across its various businesses worldwide.
In India, around 1,000 employees are being fired, according to sources aware of the matter.
It has shut down various businesses in the country including its food delivery, edtech, and wholesale distribution units.
