Lyon Saint-Exupéry Airport — Colombier-Saugnieu, Rhône, France

Lyon Saint-Exupéry Airport, coded LYS, takes its name from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the French aviator and author of The Little Prince, who was born in Lyon before a flying career that ended when his aircraft disappeared over the Mediterranean during the Second World War. The airport sits east of the city in Colombier-Saugnieu and serves as the primary hub for the greater Lyon area and much of the Rhône-Alpes region, ranking among France's busiest airports outside the Paris system. Its most photographed feature is the TGV railway station attached to the terminal, a soaring concrete-and-glass structure designed by architect Santiago Calatrava to evoke a bird in flight, which opened in the 1990s and gives LYS a direct high-speed rail connection unusual among European airports. Lyon itself, a UNESCO World Heritage city renowned for its Renaissance old town and culinary reputation, draws both business travelers tied to its pharmaceutical and biotech industries and tourists exploring the wider region.