diff --git a/airflow/providers/amazon/aws/sensors/athena.py b/airflow/providers/amazon/aws/sensors/athena.py
index 70d7875629fb9..4a1de652667bb 100644
--- a/airflow/providers/amazon/aws/sensors/athena.py
+++ b/airflow/providers/amazon/aws/sensors/athena.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from airflow.utils.context import Context
 
-from airflow.exceptions import AirflowException
+from airflow.exceptions import AirflowException, AirflowSkipException
 from airflow.providers.amazon.aws.hooks.athena import AthenaHook
 from airflow.sensors.base import BaseSensorOperator
 
@@ -78,7 +78,11 @@ def poke(self, context: Context) -> bool:
         state = self.hook.poll_query_status(self.query_execution_id, self.max_retries, self.sleep_time)
 
         if state in self.FAILURE_STATES:
-            raise AirflowException("Athena sensor failed")
+            # TODO: remove this if block when min_airflow_version is set to higher than 2.7.1
+            message = "Athena sensor failed"
+            if self.soft_fail:
+                raise AirflowSkipException(message)
+            raise AirflowException(message)
 
         if state in self.INTERMEDIATE_STATES:
             return False
diff --git a/tests/providers/amazon/aws/sensors/test_athena.py b/tests/providers/amazon/aws/sensors/test_athena.py
index a9809be1d052b..18012d81cad09 100644
--- a/tests/providers/amazon/aws/sensors/test_athena.py
+++ b/tests/providers/amazon/aws/sensors/test_athena.py
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
 
 import pytest
 
-from airflow.exceptions import AirflowException
+from airflow.exceptions import AirflowException, AirflowSkipException
 from airflow.providers.amazon.aws.hooks.athena import AthenaHook
 from airflow.providers.amazon.aws.sensors.athena import AthenaSensor
 
@@ -59,3 +59,15 @@ def test_poke_cancelled(self, mock_poll_query_status):
         with pytest.raises(AirflowException) as ctx:
             self.sensor.poke({})
         assert "Athena sensor failed" in str(ctx.value)
+
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize(
+        "soft_fail, expected_exception", ((False, AirflowException), (True, AirflowSkipException))
+    )
+    def test_fail_poke(self, soft_fail, expected_exception):
+        self.sensor.soft_fail = soft_fail
+        message = "Athena sensor failed"
+        with pytest.raises(expected_exception, match=message), mock.patch(
+            "airflow.providers.amazon.aws.hooks.athena.AthenaHook.poll_query_status"
+        ) as poll_query_status:
+            poll_query_status.return_value = "FAILED"
+            self.sensor.poke(context={})