Named after the Bel-Air quarter of the 12th arrondissement.
The station stands on the boulevard de Picpus, between the quarters of Picpus and Bel-Air. Below it ran the old Vincennes railway, which had its own Bel-Air station; its route is now the Coulée verte René-Dumont, a walk on the former tracks. The metro station opened in 1909.