Lyon Airport
Lyon-Saint Exupery airport also known as Lyon Satolas Airport is situated in the city of Lyon, France. The airport was named after a pilot and French writer Antoine de Saint Exupery in 2000. The name is given to airport on his 100th birthday celebrations.
It is situated in Colombier-Saugnieu around 20 kilometers east southeast of the city of Lyon. There are two main runways which are located north-south. The whole Rhone-Alpes region is covered through Lyon airport. It is connected with the centre of lyon through coaches and coach also connects other cities in the areas including Grenoble and Chambery and it is also connected with Lyon city through railways, Rhonexpress which began in 2010 and covers the distance within 30 minutes.
Inauguration was done by the President Valery Giscard d’Estaing on 12th April 1975 and opened for passengers after a week of its inauguration. The old Lyon-Bron Airport was replaced by this new Lyon airport. The reason of replacement is that the old airport could not be extended because it was located in the city area.
In 1994, a high speed railway line is brought to the Lyon which provides direct trains to Marseille and Paris. It is connected to the railway station by a fan like canopy building. This building was designed by an architect named Santiago Calatrava. This is Lyon airports most beautiful architecture. The cost was 750 million Francs and opened on 3rd July, 1994. The building was mostly a combination of concrete and steel. The railway station is situated 20 kilometer east of Lyon Airport.
Lyon airport and railway station was renamed in 2000 in the memory of Lyonnaise writer and aviation pioneer Antoine desAINT-Exupery who died in the second world war. He was awarded by Le Grand Prix du Roman is the most famous and respectable French literary award, started in 1918 and given every year by Academie Francaise.
From 1997, it is the important hub for the Air France. In the year of 2011, 8,437,141 passengers traveled through which makes it fourth busiest airport in France after Nice Airport, Charles de Gaulle Airport and Orly airport.
There are three terminals which are:
- Terminal 1
- Terminal 2
- Terminal 3
Shuttle buses connect Lyon airport with nearly 30 resorts.Different facilities are also available which are around 17 bars and restaurants, fuel station, a currency exchange facility, 14 shops and Wi-Fi services. A 2 star hotel Kyriad is situated 800 meters from the terminals. Another hotel Sofitel Hotel is located adjacent to terminals.
Some shops which are located at Lyon Airport are:
- Beauty Unlimited: this is a shop where passengers can buy a wide variety of products. Basically it is a perfumery shop. The shop is opened from 08:00 to 20:30 0n Monday to Friday and 08:30 to 2000 on weekends. This shop is located on the east wing of the centre.
- Ol Store: This shop opens seven days a week and sells regional products and is located in terminal 1.
- L’escale: This shop also opens seven days a week and is located in the east wing.
- Le Printemps: Also located in the east wing and contains fashion accessories.
- Relay: This shop contains two outlets; first is located at terminal 1 and the other is located at the connecting hall. This shop contains a very good collection of French and International magazines.
- Danael: It’s a jewelry shop and also contains a wide collection of different items.
- Duty-Free Multistore: two stores are located one at terminal 1 and the other is located at terminal 2.