FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 

Contact: Dick Fontaine
Senior VP of Marketing
(712)262-1000
 

GREAT LAKES AVIATION REPORTS JUNE AND SECOND QUARTER, 2000 TRAFFIC; JUNE ENPLANEMENTS SET NEW RECORD HIGH FOR THE MONTH AND A NEW DAILY BOARDING RECORD.
 

Spencer, Iowa � July 10, 2000� Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. (NASDAQ:GLUX) today announced preliminary passenger traffic results for the month of June.

Scheduled service generated 24,186,996 revenue passenger miles (RPMs), a 4.1 percent increase from the same month last year. Available seat miles (ASMs) decreased 3.6 percent to 45,245,820. As a result, load factor declined 0.3 points to 53.5 percent.

The company carried 101,185 passengers, a 1.3 percent increase compared to June, 1999.   A new daily boarding record was also set on Friday, June 30, 2000 when 4,459 revenue passengers were enplaned.  The previous record day was August 6, 1999 when 4,103 passengers were carried.  June, 2000 traffic results reflect the deletion of service relative to the prior year in two Denver markets (Bismarck, ND and Sioux Falls, SD) that accounted for ten percent of system revenue passenger miles and five percent of enplaned passengers in June, 1999.

For the three months ended June 30, 2000, RPMs decreased 0.5 percent to 65,627,072 compared to the same three month period in 1999, while (ASMs) decreased 1.7 percent to 131,822,175 for the quarter in 2000 compared to 1999.  As a result, load factor increased to 49.8 percent for 2000 compared to 49.2 percent for the same three month period in 1999.  The company carried 270,654 passengers for the three months ended June 30, 2000, a 4.9 percent increase compared to the same three months in 1999.

For the six month period ended June 30, 2000 compared to the same six month period in 1999, RPMs increased 0.4 percent to 124,582,646 while ASMs decreased 3.6 percent to 259,813,566 resulting in a load factor of 48.0 percent for 2000 compared to 46.0 percent for the same six month period in 1999.  The company carried 517,181 passengers for the six months ended June 30, 2000, a 7.8 percent increase on a year over year basis.

JUNE, SECOND QUARTER AND YEAR-TO-DATE STATISTICS

	June, 2000	June, 1999	Change
Passengers Enplaned	101,185	99,856	+1.3%
Revenue Passenger Miles (000)	24,187	25,233	-4.1%
Available Seat Miles (000)	45,246	46,928	-3.6%
Load Factor	53.5%	53.8%	-0.3pts
	2nd Qtr 2000	2nd Qtr 1999	Change
Passengers Enplaned	270,654	258,018	+4.9%
Revenue Passenger Miles (000)	65,627	65,941	-0.5%
Available Seat Miles (000)	131,822	134,103	-1.7%
Load Factor	49.8%	49.2%	+0.6pts
	YTD 2000	YTD 1999	Change
Passenger Enplaned	517,181	479,831	+7.8%
Revenue Passenger Miles (000)	124,583	124,142	+0.4%
Available Seat Miles (000)	259,814	269,581	-3.6%
Load Factor	48.0%	46.0%	+2.0pts

As of July 6, 2000, United Express flights were being provided at 61 airports in fourteen states with a fleet of eight Embraer EMB-120 Brasilias and 40 Raytheon/Beech 1900D regional airliners. A total of 338 weekday flights are scheduled at three hubs with 98 flights at Chicago-O'Hare International Airport, 228 at Denver and 12 at Minneapolis-St. Paul. In addition, the company operates 4 weekday round trip flights between Springfield, IL, the State Capital, and Meigs Field on the lake front adjacent to downtown Chicago.  All scheduled flights are operated under the United Express marketing identity under a code-share agreement with United Airlines.