Great Lakes Aviation Reports July, 2001 and Year to Date Traffic And Higher Average Ticket Prices In July

CHEYENNE, Wyo., Aug. 9 -- Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd (Nasdaq: GLUX - news) today announced preliminary passenger traffic results for the month of July.

Scheduled service generated 22,032,155 revenue passenger miles (RPMs), a 15.5 percent decrease from the same month last year. Available seat miles (ASMs) decreased 10.6 percent to 40,467,212. As a result load factor decreased 3.2 points to 54.4 percent. The company carried 87,589 passengers, a 21.4 percent decrease compared to July, 2000.

For the seven month period ended July 31, 2001 compared to the same seven month period in 2000, RPMs decreased 11.2 percent to 133,745,052 while ASMs also decreased 11.2 percent to 270,957,260, resulting in a load factor of 49.4 percent for the seven month period in both 2001 and 2000. The company carried 547,569 passengers for the seven months ended July 31, 2001, a 12.9 percent decrease on a year over year basis.

                       JULY AND YEAR-TO-DATE STATISTICS

                                   July, 2001   July, 2000     Change
    Passengers Enplaned                87,589      111,421     -21.4%
    Revenue Passenger Miles (000)      22,032       26,083     -15.5%
    Available Seat Miles (000)         40,467       45,269     -10.6%
    Load Factor                         54.4%        57.6%    -3.2 Pts.

                                     YTD 2001     YTD 2000     Change
    Passengers Enplaned               547,569      628,602     -12.9%
    Revenue Passenger Miles (000)     133,745      150,665     -11.2%
    Available Seat Miles (000)        270,957      305,083     -11.2%
    Load Factor                         49.4%        49.4%       N/C.

 

As was previously stated in the company's May, 2001 traffic press release issued June 6, 2001, the company filed fare increases during the second quarter to improve revenue yields. Following the July 4th holiday travel period and beginning with the July 9th implementation of a new code-share agreement with Frontier Airlines, the revised fare structure resulted in higher average ticket prices in July. For the period July 9-31, 2001 the company's average ticket price was $97.33 compared to $92.55 in May, 2001 and $93.17 in June, 2001. As noted in the earlier press release, the decline in load factor was anticipated.

As of August 1, 2001 Great Lakes Airlines flights were being provided at 55 airports in fifteen states with a fleet of eight Embraer EMB-120 Brasilias and 40 Beechcraft 1900D's. A total of 288 weekday flights are scheduled at three hubs with 238 weekday flights at Denver, 36 flights at Chicago-O'Hare, and 14 flights at Minneapolis-St. Paul. In addition, the company operates 4 weekday round trip flights between Springfield, Illinois, the State Capital, and Meigs Field on the lake front adjacent to downtown Chicago.

Additional company information is available on its web site which may be accessed at www.greatlakesav.com .

• Dick Fontaine
• Senior VP - Marketing
• 307-432-7020