Great Lakes Reports Record 48.8% Load Factor for November

GREAT LAKES AVIATION REPORTS RECORD 48.8% LOAD FACTOR FOR NOVEMBER; TRAFFIC UP 50.0%

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

Scheduled service generated 20,924,000 revenue passenger miles (RPMs), a 50.0 percent increase from the same month last year. Available seat miles (ASMs) increased 44.5 percent to 42,883,000. As a result load factor increased 1.8 points to 48.8 percent. The company carried 76,389 passengers, a 64.8 percent increase compared to November, 1997.

For the eleven month period ended November 30, 1998 compared to the same eleven month period in 1997, RPMs increased 21.6 percent to 227,426,000 while ASMs increased 8.6 percent to 440,505,000, resulting in a load factor of 51.6 percent for 1998 compared to 46.1 percent for the same eleven month period in 1997. The company carried 789,782 revenue passengers for the eleven months ended November 30, 1998, a 26.5 percent increase on a year over year basis.

	November 1998	November 1997	Change
Passengers Enplaned	76,389	46,345	+64.8%
Revenue Passenger Miles (000)	20,924	13,953	+50.0%
Available Seat Miles (000)	42,883	29,670	+44.5%
Load Factor	48.8%	47.0%	+1.8 Pts.

	YTD 1998	YTD 1997	Change
Passengers Enplaned	789,782	624,243	+26.5%
Revenue Passenger Miles (000)	227,426	187,091	+21.6%
Available Seat Miles (000)	440,505	405,638	+8.6%
Load Factor	51.6%	46.1%	+5.5 Pts.

November, 1998 traffic and capacity levels reflect the addition of service at 3 new cities in the company's United Express network at Denver in late October. 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 November continues a trend of significantly improved traffic results", said Douglas G. Voss, Great Lakes' president and chief executive officer. "The strong traffic levels in November continue to validate the company's decision to move capacity to United Airlines' Denver hub", he added.

As of December 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 286 weekday flights are offered at its three hubs with 102 flights at Chicago-O'Hare, 162 at Denver and 22 at Minneapolis-St. Paul. In addition, the company operates 8 weekday flights between Springfield, IL and Chicago-Meigs Field. All flights are operated under the United Express marketing identity.