Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport - The Fourth Busiest Airport in France

Lyon-Saint Exupéry airport is one of two airports in close proximity to Lyon, being situated just 25 km east of the city. It used to be known as Lyon Satolas Airport but was renamed in 2000 after a French writer who was born in Lyon. The airport's location makes it one of the most popular for skiers travelling to one of the many ski resorts in France such as Courchevel, Meribel or Val Thorens.

The airport is also linked to Lyon Part-Dieu train station with TGV trains to Paris and Marsaille, through the Rhoneexpress train service, which takes 30 minutes. The expenditure on connecting the airport to the TGV terminal has been criticised as the service is under-used.

Whilst Lyon is one of the airports that serves the ski resorts in the French Alps it is not a convenient airport for skiers to fly into. There are coaches and buses to the city centre and to Grenoble and Chambery, but no direct links to the ski areas and so any onwards travel by bus and train includes many changes.

It is around a two hour drive from Lyon to Courchevel and there are many transfer companies offering airport transfers from Lyon. Whilst maybe a little more expensive than catching the train or bus or hiring a car, booking an airport transfer can save you much time and hassle.

Lyon airport was first opened in April 1975 to replace the old Lyon airport which could not expand as it was in an urban area. In 1994 the airport was connected with the high speed TGV train service in France. In 2000 the airport was renamed after the pilot and writer called Antoine de Saint-Exupery, who had died in the second World War. Lyon airport now received well over 7 and half million passengers a year, and is the fourth busiest airport in France.

Lyon Saint-Exupery airport was designed by renowned architect Santiago Calatrava and features a massive fan-shaped entrance. The architectural structure is based on two massive steel arches that are around 120 metres long and 40 metres in height. It supposedly symbolises a bird (and flight) with two wings converging at a central beak, although the architect insists that this was not the idea behind the design.