Azure Data Factory Deprecates Apache Airflow: Time to Migrate

Andrew analyzes and writes about Microsoft's data management, business intelligence, and machine learning solutions, as well as aspects of licensing... more

Apache Airflow, a popular open-source platform used to programmatically create, schedule, and monitor complex workflows, is being removed from Azure Data Factory (ADF) and added to Fabric Data Factory (FDF), marking Microsoft’s continued effort to have customers adopt Fabric.

The two competing offerings:

ADF’s Apache Airflow, called ADF Workflow Orchestration Manager, was officially deprecated and restricted for use by existing customers only, beginning in early 2025.

FDF’s Apache Airflow, called FDF Data Workflows, was previewed in Apr. 2025 and reached general availability in May 2025.

Directions Recommends

Although Microsoft has not announced a retirement date for ADF’s Workflow Orchestration Manager, customers are advised to immediately start planning migration to Fabric or another solution.

Occasionally, Microsoft announces short-window retirements (such as Power BI retiring integration with SharePoint Lists), where it provides three or fewer months for customers to migrate off a service. This approach, although annoying and disruptive to customer plans and budgets, is within the boundaries of Microsoft’s Modern Lifecycle policy, which states Microsoft needs to provide only a 12-month notice of retirement if there is no alternative solution. For Apache Airflow, Microsoft already released the alternative solution: FDF.

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