The airport was originally named Lyon Satolas Airport, but in 2000 the airport and train station were renamed in honour of Lyonnais aviation pioneer and writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, on the centenary of his birth.
O aeroporto inicialmente chamouse aeroporto de Lión-Satolas, pero no ano 2000 tanto o aeroporto como a estación de tren bautizáronse na honra do pioneiros da aviación e escritor lionés Antoine de Saint-Exupéry ao cumprirse o centenario do seu nacemento.