No Hubs, No Dense Networks—What Kind of Air Cargo Blueprint Is Amazon Building? Can It Replicate Its Self-Built Logistics Success?

A recent study by the Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development at DePaul University reveals that Amazon Air has undergone significant changes over the past two years—most notably in its increasing use of widebody freighters, expansion of nighttime operations, and a strong focus on the U.S. domestic market.

Amazon Air is actively ramping up its widebody freighter capacity, a move that will allow it to carry more third-party cargo. At the same time, Amazon is adding more overnight flights, reducing short-haul routes, and relying more heavily on trucking for ground transport. After scaling back its European operations in 2023, Amazon has further concentrated its air logistics strategy on the U.S. market.

Between March 2024 and 2025, Amazon Air’s U.S. fleet payload capacity grew by 14%, and its volumetric capacity rose by 12.9%. Amazon now operates 10 Airbus A330-300 freighters, 7 of which were added in the past year, with 2 still pending commercial launch. Compared to Amazon’s second-largest freighter type, the Boeing 767-300, these A330-300s offer 17% more payload capacity and 6% more volume.

In fact, more than three-quarters of Amazon’s available ton-miles in the U.S. are now flown by widebody aircraft—a significant increase from three years ago. Although the number of aircraft marked as “parked” has gone up, Amazon’s overall freighter capacity still grew by 7%, even excluding idle planes.

While capacity continues to grow steadily, the future of Amazon Air’s fleet planning remains somewhat uncertain.

For instance, Amazon is gradually winding down its operational partnership with Atlas Air, with many of its aircraft now transferred to other contractors. It's unclear what Amazon plans to do with the remaining 9 Atlas-operated planes (most of which are large aircraft, except for two Boeing 737s). However, Amazon Air continues to fly with ABX (a subsidiary of ATSG, in which Amazon holds a stake) and new partner 21 Air.

Globally, Amazon’s air capacity increased by 13% over the past year and by 18% since 2023—driven almost entirely by fleet expansion in the U.S. Excluding parked aircraft, global capacity still grew by 6.6%.

More Payload, More Opportunities

With larger aircraft and greater capacity, Amazon Air is in a better position to grow its third-party air cargo business, including bulk shipments. For an airline with a significant imbalance in outbound cargo from its hub airports, the revenue potential of delivering large volumes of inbound freight to its busiest hubs is especially attractive.

Since mid-2023, Amazon has also reduced the number of airports it serves by five in order to focus on large aircraft operations. It no longer relies solely on its CVG (Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport) megahub and has expanded its presence at other key U.S. airports.

At CVG, Amazon now operates more long-haul and nighttime flights and has made it the primary base for its A330F fleet. Meanwhile, the airport cluster centered around San Bernardino International Airport in California has grown significantly, becoming a key transshipment center for West Coast freight. Fort Worth Alliance Airport in Texas has also emerged as Amazon’s second busiest hub.

Over the past year, Amazon’s nighttime flights in the U.S. (between 11:00 p.m. and 5:59 a.m.) increased by more than one-third, covering CVG and other hubs. The share of domestic nighttime flights rose from 30.1% in early 2023 to 29.1% in early 2024, and then to 38.96% by early 2025.

At the same time, Amazon cut down on short-haul flights, shifting more short- and medium-distance freight to trucks. Flights under 400 miles now account for just 5.1% of Amazon Air’s U.S. operations, down by more than half in two years.

Europe Strategy: Downsize and Focus

In Europe, Amazon continues to scale back operations. Amazon Air now operates just 12 European flights per day—less than one-third of its 2022 volume—with no flights on Saturdays. All European routes are operated by its Irish contractor ASL using Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

Amazon has stuck to its strategy of not building traditional air hubs in Europe, focusing instead on point-to-point flights that cover airports in or near the “Golden Triangle” (the area between Amsterdam, Frankfurt, and Paris), which currently handles two-thirds of Amazon’s European air freight.

Source: Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development
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