Great Lakes Reports Record 51.3% Load Factor for October; Traffic up 59.2%

GREAT LAKES AVIATION REPORTS RECORD 51.3% LOAD FACTOR FOR OCTOBER; TRAFFIC UP 59.2%

Spencer, Iowa -- November 5, 1998 -- Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. (NASDAQ:GLUX) today announced preliminary passenger traffic results for the month of October.

Scheduled service generated 24,508,000 revenue passenger miles (RPMs), a 59.2 percent increase from the same month last year. Available seat miles (ASMs) increased 57.9 percent to 47,815,000. As a result load factor increased 0.5 points to 51.3 percent. The company carried 85,773 passengers, a 63.2 percent increase compared to October, 1997.

For the ten month period ended October 31, 1998 compared to the same ten month period in 1997, RPMs increased 19.3 percent to 206,490,000 while ASMs increased 5.8 percent to 397,622,000, resulting in a load factor of 51.9 percent for 1998 compared to 46.1 percent for the same ten month period in 1997. The company carried 712,875 passengers for the ten months ended October 31, 1998, a 23.4 percent increase on a year over year basis.

	October 1998	October 1997	Change
Passengers Enplaned	85,773	52,561	+63.2%
Revenue Passenger Miles (000)	24,508	15,392	+59.2%
Available Seat Miles (000)	47,815	30,291	+57.9%
Load Factor	51.3%	50.8%	+0.5 Pts.

	YTD 1998	YTD 1997	Change
Passengers Enplaned	712,875	577,898	+23.4%
Revenue Passenger Miles (000)	206,490	173,137	+19.3%
Available Seat Miles (000)	397,622	375,968	+5.8%
Load Factor	51.9%	46.1%	+5.8 Pts.

October, 1998 traffic and capacity levels reflect the addition of service at 3 new cities in the company's United Express network at Denver during the latter part of the month. Since the initial addition of new cities at Denver in April, Great Lakes has added a total of 23 new service points in its Denver route structure.

"The company's record load factor performance in October continues a trend of significantly improved traffic results", said Douglas G. Voss, Great Lakes' president and chief executive officer. "The strong traffic levels in October following the favorable third quarter results continue to validate the company's decision to move capacity to United Airlines' Denver hub", he added.

As of November 1, 1998, scheduled service was being provided at 70 airports in thirteen states with a fleet of eight Embraer EMB-120 Brasilias and 40 Beechcraft 1900D regional airliners. A total of 284 weekday flights are offered at its three hubs with 102 flights at Chicago-O'Hare, 160 at Denver and 22 at Minneapolis-St. Paul. In addition, the company operates 16 weekday flights between Springfield, IL and Chicago-Meigs Field. All flights are operated under the United Express marketing identity.