Great Lakes Reports Strong July, 1998 Traffic

GREAT LAKES AVIATION REPORTS STRONG JULY, 1998 TRAFFIC WITH LOAD FACTOR AT 56.1%

Spencer, Iowa -- August 7, 1998 -- Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. (NASDAQ:GLUX) today announced preliminary passenger traffic results for the month of July.

Scheduled service generated 26,666,000 revenue passenger miles (RPMs), a 69.6 percent increase from the same month last year. Available seat miles (ASMs) increased 72.9 percent to 47,537,000. As a result load factor declined 1.1 point to 56.1 percent. The company carried 92,015 passengers, a 79.8 percent increase compared to July, 1997.

For the seven month period ended July 31, 1998 compared to the same seven month period in 1997, RPMs increased 3.2 percent to 128,026,000 while ASMs declined 8.3 percent to 256,567,000, resulting in a load factor of 49.9 percent for 1998 compared to 44.3 percent for the same seven month period in 1997. The company carried 441,408 passengers for the seven months ended July 31, 1998, a 6.2 percent increase on a year over year basis.

	July 1998	July 1997	Change
Passengers Enplaned	92,015	51,186	+79.8%
Revenue Passenger Miles (000)	26,666	15,721	+69.6%
Available Seat Miles (000)	47,537	27,500	+72.9%
Load Factor	56.1%	57.2%	-1.1 Pt.

	YTD 1998	YTD 1997	Change
Passengers Enplaned	441,408	415,554	+6.2%
Revenue Passenger Miles (000)	128,026	124,036	+3.2%
Available Seat Miles (000)	256,567	279,730	-8.3%
Load Factor	49.9%	44.3%	+5.6 Pts.

"The company is very pleased with the company's performance in July", said Douglas G. Voss, Great Lakes' President Chief Executive Officer. "We continue to see traffic levels at or above expectations in the new Denver growth opportunities granted to the company by United Airlines", he added.

July, 1998 traffic and capacity levels reflect the addition of service at 19 new cities in the company's United Express network at Denver. July, 1997 results reflect the partial reinstatement of service following the company's voluntary suspension of operations in May, 1997. A reduced level of service was operated in July, 1997 and was focused primarily on the United Express routes at Chicago-O'Hare International Airport.

As of August 7, 1998, scheduled service was being provided at 69 airports in thirteen states with a fleet of eight Embraer EMB-120 Brasilias and 40 Beechcraft 1900D regional airliners. A total of 266 weekday flights are offered at its three hubs with 100 flights at Chicago-O'Hare, 148 at Denver and 18 at MInneapolis-St. Paul. In addition, the company operates 8 weekday flights between Springfield, IL and Chicago-Meigs Field. The flights are operated under the United Express marketing identity.