CHEYENNE, Wyo., Sept. 16 Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. (OTC Bulletin Board: GLUX) today announced preliminary passenger traffic results for the month of August.

Scheduled service generated 13,156,000 revenue passenger miles (RPM's), a 38.7 percent decrease from the same month last year. Available seat miles (ASM's) decreased 19.9 percent to 32,218,000. As a result, load factor decreased 12.5 points to 40.8 percent. Passengers carried decreased 41.7 percent compared to August 2001 to 49,150.

For the eight months ending August 31, 2002 compared to the same eight month period in 2001, revenue passenger miles (RPM's) decreased 40.9 percent to 91,704,000 while available seat miles (ASM's) decreased 23.3 percent to 238,741,000, resulting in a load factor of 38.4 percent for the year 2002 compared to 49.9 percent for the same eight month period in 2001. The company carried 346,270 revenue passenger for the eight month period ending August 31, 2002, a 45.2 percent decrease on a year over year basis.

Traffic reflects reductions and restructuring of the company's scheduled capacity made following the events of September 11, 2001 with emphasis placed on subsidized Essential Air Service markets.

                      August AND YEAR TO DATE STATISTICS
                                    August 2002    August 2001   Change
     Passengers Enplaned            49,150         84,339        - 41.7%
     Revenue Passenger Miles (000)  13,156         21,459        - 38.7%
     Available Seat Miles (000)     32,218         40,230        - 19.9%
     Load Factor                    40.8%          53.3%         - 12.5 points
                                    YTD 2002       YTD 2001      Change
     Passengers Enplaned            346,270        631,908       - 45.2%
     Revenue Passenger Miles (000)  91,704         155,199       - 40.9%
     Available Seat Miles (000)     238,741        311,182       - 23.3%
     Load Factor                    38.4%          49.9%         - 11.5 points

As of September 5, 2002, scheduled passenger service was being provided at 48 airports in fifteen states with a fleet of Embraer EMB-120 Brasilias and Raytheon/Beech 1900D regional airliners. A total of 220 weekday flights are scheduled at four hubs, with 176 flights at Denver, 24 flights at Chicago -- O'Hare International Airport, 14 flights at Minneapolis/St. Paul, and 6 flights at Phoenix. All scheduled flights are operated under the Great Lakes Airlines marketing identity in conjunction with code-share agreements with United Airlines and Frontier Airlines.