Great Lakes Reports July Traffic Sets New All Time Company Record

GREAT LAKES AVIATION REPORTS JULY TRAFFIC; SETS NEW ALL TIME COMPANY RECORD FOR PASSENGER ENPLANEMENTS AND LOAD FACTOR.

Spencer, Iowa – August 9, 1999 – Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. (NASDAQ:GLUX) today announced preliminary passenger traffic results for the month of July.

Scheduled service generated 27,179,624 revenue passenger miles (RPMs), a 1.8 percent increase from the same month last year. Available seat miles (ASMs) decreased 3.2 percent to 46,012,616. As a result load factor increased 3.0 points to 59.1 percent, an all time record high for the company. The company carried 109,587 passengers, a 19.5 percent increase compared to June, 1998 and representing a new record monthly passenger total. The previous high month was June, 1999 when 99,856 revenue passengers were boarded. A new daily boarding record was also set when 4,079 revenue passengers were enplaned on July 6, 1999.

For the seven month period ended July 31, 1999 compared to the same seven month period in 1998, RPMs increased 18.2 percent to 151,321,545 while ASMs increased 23.0 percent to 315,593,680, resulting in a load factor of 47.9 percent for 1999 compared to 49.9 percent for the same seven month period in 1998. The company carried 589,418 passengers for the seven months ended July 31, 1999, a 33.6 percent increase on a year-over-year basis.

"July traffic exceeded company expectations", said Douglas G. Voss, Great Lakes' president and chief executive officer. "While some of the higher traffic levels is attributable to United Airlines' new revenue management system, we are also pleased to see positive passenger response to new flying initiatives at both Denver and Chicago including the reassignment of all of the Brasilias to the Chicago-O'Hare hub", he added.

	JULY, 1999	JULY, 1998	Change
Passengers Enplaned	109,587	91,719	+19.5%
Revenue Passenger Miles (000)	27,180	26,688	+1.8%
Available Seat Miles (000)	46,013	47,553	-3.2%
Load Factor	59.1%	56.1%	+3.0 Pts.

	YTD 1999	YTD 1998	Change
Passengers Enplaned	589,418	441,112	+33.6%
Revenue Passenger Miles (000)	151,322	128,048	+18.2%
Available Seat Miles (000)	315,594	256,583	+23.0%
Load Factor	47.9%	49.9%	-2.0 Pts.

As previously announced, Great Lakes discontinued United Express flights at Terre Haute, Indiana on July 10, 1999 and, effective September 7, 1999, will add daily United Express flights between Casper, Wyoming and Denver. On September 6, 1999, Great Lakes will discontinue its United Express flights between Bismarck, North Dakota and Denver.

As of August 1, 1999, United Express flights were being provided at 69 airports in fourteen states with a fleet of eight Embraer EMB-120 Brasilias and 40 Beechcraft 1900D's. A total of 316 weekday flights offered at three hubs, 84 flights at Chicago0O'Hare, 214 at Denver and 18 at Minneapolis-St. Paul. In addition, the company operates 4 weekday round trip flights between Springfield, Illinois and Chicago-Meigs Field. All Scheduled flights are operated under the United Express marketing identity.