[Task]: Investigate native ARM runners for Python aarch64 wheels

[bvolpato]

What needs to happen?

Python wheel workflow currently builds Linux aarch64 wheel on an ubuntu-22.04 x64 GitHub-hosted runner through QEMU.

In a representative PR run, aarch64 Python 3.14 leg took 91 minutes and determined almost all workflow latency. Other active legs took 5 to 26 minutes:

• Beam run: https://github.com/apache/beam/actions/runs/30917964633
• aarch64 job: https://github.com/apache/beam/actions/runs/30917964633/job/92021083741
• workflow configuration: https://github.com/apache/beam/blob/master/.github/workflows/build_wheels.yml

GitHub provides standard ubuntu-24.04-arm runners for public repositories. Other Apache projects already use them for native wheel builds. For example, Arrow Nanoarrow runs cibuildwheel on ubuntu-24.04-arm; a recent Linux ARM64 job completed successfully in about 11 minutes:

• GitHub runner documentation: https://docs.github.com/en/actions/reference/runners/github-hosted-runners
• cibuildwheel native ARM guidance: https://cibuildwheel.pypa.io/en/stable/faq/
• Arrow Nanoarrow workflow: https://github.com/apache/arrow-nanoarrow/blob/main/.github/workflows/python-wheels.yaml
• Example job: https://github.com/apache/arrow-nanoarrow/actions/runs/30664577816/job/91268851254

Could someone familiar with Beam Infra or Apache runner constraints confirm whether this wheel leg can use ubuntu-24.04-arm, or whether current QEMU path is intentional?

A bounded experiment could switch only aarch64 matrix row to native ARM, use CIBW_ARCHS_LINUX=auto, and skip QEMU for that row. Validation should compare wheel platform tags, auditwheel show, installation/import smoke tests, existing wheel tests, and wall-clock time against current QEMU job.

Issue Priority

Priority: 2 (default / most normal work should be filed as P2)

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