Lyon Bron Airport, the business aviation field in France’s second largest city, is still betting on mid-term growth and is preparing to break ground on three major construction projects this year, airport officials said last week. An 80-seat restaurant with accompanying conference room and two boutique shops will be housed in a €1.7 million ($2.1 million) building. In addition, a €3.5 million ($4.4 million), 10,000-sq-ft hangar for business jets and a new €530,000 ($667,000) facility for EMS helicopters will be part of the complex. All building projects are funded by third-party investors, which apparently are sticking to their plans despite the severe global downturn. Last year, business aviation traffic in Bron was steady, at 7,200 aircraft movements. Meanwhile, subsidiary Lyon Executive Handling is planning to increase its market share for business aircraft handling to 50 percent this year from 41 percent last year. That share is calculated over two airports, Lyon Bron and the city’s mainline field at Lyon Saint Exupéry. The company that operates both facilities has recently been renamed LyonAirports.