FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Michael Matthews, VP Finance/CFO

       (307) 432-7000

Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. Reports February 2005 Traffic and Additional Routes

CHEYENNE, Wyo., March 9, 2005 � Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. (OTC Bulletin Board: GLUX.OB � news) today announced preliminary passenger traffic results for the month of February.

Scheduled service generated 8,657,000 revenue passenger miles (RPM�s), a 15.8 percent decrease from the same month last year.  Available seat miles (ASM�s) decreased 25.2 percent to 20,571,000.  As a result, load factor increased 4.7 points to 42.08 percent. Passengers carried decreased 13 percent to 32,175 when compared with February 2004.

For the two months ending February 28, 2005 compared to the same two month period in 2004, revenue passenger miles (RPM�s) decreased 14.7 percent to 17,827,000 while available seat miles (ASM�s) decreased 25.4 percent to 42,118,000, resulting in a load factor of 42.3 percent for the year 2005 compared to 37.03 percent for the same two month period in 2004.  The company carried 66,233 revenue passengers for the two month period ending February 28, 2005, an 11.6 percent decrease on a year over year basis.

Traffic and capacity results for March will reflect the addition of service to Fort Huachuca/Sierra Vista, AZ that was initiated March 1^st and Enid and Ponca City, OK which will begin March 13th.  April traffic and capacity will reflect new service beginning April 3rd, to Clovis and Silver City, NM.

In addition to the five new routes mentioned above, the U.S. Department of Transportation today selected Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. to provide essential air service (EAS) at Prescott, Kingman and Show Low, Arizona. Service is expected to begin in the second quarter 2005.

FEBRUARY 2005 AND YEAR TO DATE STATISTICS

Feb-05  Feb-04  Change

Passengers Enplaned  32,175 36,976 -13.0%

Revenue Passenger Miles (000) 8,657  10,283  -15.8%

Available Seat Miles (000) 20,571 27,509 -25.2%

Load Factor    42.08% 37.38% 4.7 pts

YTD 2005 YTD 2004 Change

Passengers Enplaned  66,233 74,898 -11.6%

Revenue Passenger Miles (000) 17,827 20,909 -14.7%

Available Seat Miles (000) 42,118 56,458 -25.4%

Load Factor    42.3% 37.03% 4.4 pts

Great Lakes is providing scheduled passenger service at 32 airports in nine states with a fleet of Embraer EMB-120 Brasilias and Raytheon/Beech 1900D regional airliners. A total of 166 weekday flights are scheduled at two hubs, with 158 flights at Denver and 8 flights at Phoenix.  All scheduled flights are operated under the Great Lakes Airlines marketing identity in conjunction with code-share agreements with United Airlines and Frontier Airlines at the Denver International Airport hub.

Additional information is available on the company web site that may be accessed at www.greatlakesav.com