diff --git a/airflow-ctl/src/airflowctl/api/operations.py b/airflow-ctl/src/airflowctl/api/operations.py
index 00f760134827c..7350b1aa2d657 100644
--- a/airflow-ctl/src/airflowctl/api/operations.py
+++ b/airflow-ctl/src/airflowctl/api/operations.py
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@
     BulkBodyConnectionBody,
     BulkBodyPoolBody,
     BulkBodyVariableBody,
+    BulkResponse,
     Config,
     ConnectionBody,
     ConnectionCollectionResponse,
@@ -672,11 +673,11 @@ def create(self, variable: VariableBody) -> VariableResponse | ServerResponseErr
         except ServerResponseError as e:
             raise e
 
-    def bulk(self, variables: BulkBodyVariableBody) -> BulkActionResponse | ServerResponseError:
+    def bulk(self, variables: BulkBodyVariableBody) -> BulkResponse | ServerResponseError:
         """CRUD multiple variables."""
         try:
             self.response = self.client.patch("variables", json=variables.model_dump())
-            return BulkActionResponse.model_validate_json(self.response.content)
+            return BulkResponse.model_validate_json(self.response.content)
         except ServerResponseError as e:
             raise e
 
diff --git a/airflow-ctl/src/airflowctl/ctl/commands/variable_command.py b/airflow-ctl/src/airflowctl/ctl/commands/variable_command.py
index 1c31828a372fd..d5ffed31d8c32 100644
--- a/airflow-ctl/src/airflowctl/ctl/commands/variable_command.py
+++ b/airflow-ctl/src/airflowctl/ctl/commands/variable_command.py
@@ -23,9 +23,9 @@
 
 import rich
 
-from airflow.api_fastapi.core_api.datamodels.common import BulkActionOnExistence
 from airflowctl.api.client import NEW_API_CLIENT, ClientKind, provide_api_client
 from airflowctl.api.datamodels.generated import (
+    BulkActionOnExistence,
     BulkBodyVariableBody,
     BulkCreateActionVariableBody,
     VariableBody,
@@ -33,9 +33,11 @@
 
 
 @provide_api_client(kind=ClientKind.CLI)
-def import_(args, api_client=NEW_API_CLIENT):
+def import_(args, api_client=NEW_API_CLIENT) -> list[str]:
     """Import variables from a given file."""
-    success_message = "[green]Import successful! success: {success}, errors: {errors}[/green]"
+    success_message = "[green]Import successful! success: {success}[/green]"
+    errors_message = "[red]Import failed! errors: {errors}[/red]"
+
     if not os.path.exists(args.file):
         rich.print(f"[red]Missing variable file: {args.file}")
         sys.exit(1)
@@ -71,12 +73,16 @@ def import_(args, api_client=NEW_API_CLIENT):
         ]
     )
     result = api_client.variables.bulk(variables=bulk_body)
-    rich.print(success_message.format(success=result.success, errors=result.errors))
-    return result.success, result.errors
+    if result.create.errors:
+        rich.print(errors_message.format(errors=result.create.errors))
+        sys.exit(1)
+
+    rich.print(success_message.format(success=result.create.success))
+    return result.create.success
 
 
 @provide_api_client(kind=ClientKind.CLI)
-def export(args, api_client=NEW_API_CLIENT):
+def export(args, api_client=NEW_API_CLIENT) -> None:
     """Export all the variables to the file."""
     success_message = "[green]Export successful! {total_entries} variable(s) to {file}[/green]"
     var_dict = {}
diff --git a/airflow-ctl/tests/airflow_ctl/api/test_operations.py b/airflow-ctl/tests/airflow_ctl/api/test_operations.py
index 7cc058c1952c3..a727783bbbaa7 100644
--- a/airflow-ctl/tests/airflow_ctl/api/test_operations.py
+++ b/airflow-ctl/tests/airflow_ctl/api/test_operations.py
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@
     BulkCreateActionConnectionBody,
     BulkCreateActionPoolBody,
     BulkCreateActionVariableBody,
+    BulkResponse,
     Config,
     ConfigOption,
     ConfigSection,
@@ -1054,9 +1055,10 @@ class TestVariablesOperations:
             )
         ]
     )
-    variable_bulk_response = BulkActionResponse(
-        success=[key],
-        errors=[],
+    variable_bulk_response = BulkResponse(
+        create=BulkActionResponse(success=[key], errors=[]),
+        update=None,
+        delete=None,
     )
 
     def test_get(self):
diff --git a/airflow-ctl/tests/airflow_ctl/ctl/commands/test_variable_command.py b/airflow-ctl/tests/airflow_ctl/ctl/commands/test_variable_command.py
index 72116b73f58a0..e0c9ce16d8d4f 100644
--- a/airflow-ctl/tests/airflow_ctl/ctl/commands/test_variable_command.py
+++ b/airflow-ctl/tests/airflow_ctl/ctl/commands/test_variable_command.py
@@ -19,9 +19,12 @@
 import json
 import os
 
+import pytest
+
 from airflowctl.api.client import ClientKind
 from airflowctl.api.datamodels.generated import (
     BulkActionResponse,
+    BulkResponse,
     VariableCollectionResponse,
     VariableResponse,
 )
@@ -46,12 +49,24 @@ class TestCliVariableCommands:
         ],
         total_entries=1,
     )
-    bulk_action_response = BulkActionResponse(success=[key], errors=[])
+    bulk_response_success = BulkResponse(
+        create=BulkActionResponse(success=[key], errors=[]), update=None, delete=None
+    )
+    bulk_response_error = BulkResponse(
+        create=BulkActionResponse(
+            success=[],
+            errors=[
+                {"error": f"The variables with these keys: {{'{key}'}} already exist.", "status_code": 409}
+            ],
+        ),
+        update=None,
+        delete=None,
+    )
 
-    def test_import(self, api_client_maker, tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    def test_import_success(self, api_client_maker, tmp_path, monkeypatch):
         api_client = api_client_maker(
             path="/api/v2/variables",
-            response_json=self.bulk_action_response.model_dump(),
+            response_json=self.bulk_response_success.model_dump(),
             expected_http_status_code=200,
             kind=ClientKind.CLI,
         )
@@ -67,7 +82,28 @@ def test_import(self, api_client_maker, tmp_path, monkeypatch):
             self.parser.parse_args(["variables", "import", expected_json_path.as_posix()]),
             api_client=api_client,
         )
-        assert response == ([self.key], [])
+        assert response == [self.key]
+
+    def test_import_error(self, api_client_maker, tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+        api_client = api_client_maker(
+            path="/api/v2/variables",
+            response_json=self.bulk_response_error.model_dump(),
+            expected_http_status_code=200,
+            kind=ClientKind.CLI,
+        )
+
+        monkeypatch.chdir(tmp_path)
+        expected_json_path = tmp_path / self.export_file_name
+        variable_file = {
+            self.key: self.value,
+        }
+
+        expected_json_path.write_text(json.dumps(variable_file))
+        with pytest.raises(SystemExit):
+            variable_command.import_(
+                self.parser.parse_args(["variables", "import", expected_json_path.as_posix()]),
+                api_client=api_client,
+            )
 
     def test_export(self, api_client_maker, tmp_path, monkeypatch):
         api_client = api_client_maker(