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Apache Airflow cron expression: every weekday at 8:30 AM
To run a Apache Airflow job every weekday at 8:30 AM, use:
30 8 * * 1-5At 08:30 UTC, on Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu and Fri.
Your week at a glance
Upcoming runs
| # | Local | UTC | From now |
|---|
Copy-ready code
Why use this schedule
A half-hour offset before the working day starts, so output is waiting by 9.
- Pre-market data loads
- Pre-opening health checks
- Morning briefing emails
First runs, as an example
Starting from 1 January 2027, evaluated in UTC:
| # | Date and time (UTC) |
|---|---|
| 1 | Fri, 01 Jan 2027, 08:30:00 |
| 2 | Mon, 04 Jan 2027, 08:30:00 |
| 3 | Tue, 05 Jan 2027, 08:30:00 |
| 4 | Wed, 06 Jan 2027, 08:30:00 |
| 5 | Thu, 07 Jan 2027, 08:30:00 |
| 6 | Fri, 08 Jan 2027, 08:30:00 |
Every weekday at 8:30 AM in every dialect
| System | Expression |
|---|---|
| Apache Airflow (this page) | 30 8 * * 1-5 |
| Quartz | 0 30 8 ? * 2-6 |
| Spring | 0 30 8 * * 1-5 |
| Crontab | 30 8 * * 1-5 |
| Kubernetes | 30 8 * * 1-5 |
| AWS EventBridge | 30 8 ? * 2-6 * |
| Jenkins | 30 8 * * 1-5 |
| GitHub Actions | 30 8 * * 1-5 |
| node-cron | 30 8 * * 1-5 |
| Azure Functions | 0 30 8 * * 1-5 |
| Google Cloud Scheduler | 30 8 * * 1-5 |
Need to translate a different expression? Use the cron converter.
Ready-to-use Apache Airflow config
Drop this into your project. The expression is the one above.
from datetime import datetime
from airflow import DAG
from airflow.operators.empty import EmptyOperator
with DAG(
dag_id="my_dag",
start_date=datetime(2026, 1, 1),
schedule="30 8 * * 1-5", # schedule_interval= before Airflow 2.4
catchup=False,
):
EmptyOperator(task_id="start")The Apache Airflow fields, in order: minute (0-59), hour (0-23), day-of-month (1-31), month (1-12), day-of-week (0-7, 0 and 7 = Sunday).
Things to watch out for in Apache Airflow
- Weekdays are 0-6 with Sunday as 0, or names such as MON-FRI.
- A scheduled run starts after its data interval ends, so a daily 0 0 * * * run processes yesterday's interval just after midnight. Set catchup=False if you do not want backfills.
- Airflow defaults to UTC. On a time-zone-aware DAG a cron schedule follows wall-clock time, so a daily 00:00 US/Eastern run moves between 04:00 and 05:00 UTC across daylight saving changes.
The common mistake with this schedule
The minute comes first, then the hour. 30 8 means 08:30, while 8 30 would be an invalid hour.
Frequently asked questions
How do I run a Apache Airflow job every weekday at 8:30 AM?
Use 30 8 * * 1-5. At 08:30 UTC, on Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu and Fri.
What is the every weekday at 8:30 AM cron expression in other systems?
Quartz: 0 30 8 ? * 2-6; Spring: 0 30 8 * * 1-5; Crontab: 30 8 * * 1-5. The table on this page lists every dialect.
Which time zone does Apache Airflow use for this schedule?
Airflow defaults to UTC. On a time-zone-aware DAG a cron schedule follows wall-clock time, so a daily 00:00 US/Eastern run moves between 04:00 and 05:00 UTC across daylight saving changes.