Saint-Exupéry International Airport (French: Aéroport Lyon Saint-Exupéry) (IATA: LYS, ICAO: LFLL), formerly known as Lyon Satolas Airport, is an airport located near Lyon, France. The airport is named after the French writer and pilot Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, a native of Lyon.

It lies in Colombier-Saugnieu, 12 miles (20km) to the east of Lyon. Its two runways are aligned north-south. It is an important transport facility for the entire Rhône-Alpes region. Coach links connect the airport with the centre of Lyon and other towns in the area including Chambéry and Grenoble, where airport capacity is limited by surrounding mountains.

The airport was inaugurated by President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing on 12 April 1975 and welcomed its first passengers a week later. It was designed to replace the old Lyon Bron airport which could not be extended as it lay in an urban area.

In 1994 a high-speed rail link brought the TGV to the airport, providing direct trains to Paris and Marseille. The fan-shaped canopy above the station, designed by architect Santiago Calatrava, is the airport's most notable architectural feature.

In 2000 the airport was renamed in honour of Lyonnais aviation pioneer and writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

In 2005, the airport has welcome more than 6.5 million passengers, mostly on international lines, which makes it France's fourth busiest airport after Charles de Gaulle, Orly and Nice airports.

In the future, 2009, the airport should be connected to the center of Lyon by a new express tram line, called Leslys.

[Source: Wikipedia]

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