Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. Reports November 2008 Traffic

CHEYENNE, Wyo., Dec. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. (OTC Bulletin Board: GLUX) today announced preliminary passenger traffic results for the month of November 2008.

Scheduled service generated 11,507,000 revenue passenger miles (RPM's), a 10.6 percent decrease from the same month last year. Available seat miles (ASM's) increased 15.3 percent to 31,295,000. As a result, load factor decreased 10.6 points to 36.77 percent. Passengers carried decreased 14.9 percent to 41,281 when compared to November 2007. Preliminary revenue per available seat mile (RASM) increased 1.0 percent from 30.09 cents to 30.38 cents.

For the eleven months ending November 30, 2008 compared to the same eleven month period in 2007, revenue passenger miles (RPM's) decreased 1.8 percent to 142,340,000 and available seat miles (ASM's) increased 12.4 percent to 329,219,000, resulting in a load factor of 43.24 percent for the year 2008 effecting a decrease in load factor of 6.3 points compared to the same eleven month period in 2007. The company carried 526,268 revenue passengers for the eleven month period ending November 30, 2008, a 1.4 percent decrease from the prior year. Preliminary revenue per available seat mile (RASM) increased 4.8 percent from 29.80 cents to 31.24 cents on a year-over-year basis.

                  NOVEMBER 2008 AND YEAR TO DATE STATISTICS

                                   Nov-08         Nov-07           Change
    Passengers Enplaned            41,281         48,528           (14.9)%
    Revenue Passenger Miles (000)  11,507         12,871           (10.6)%
    Available Seat Miles (000)     31,295         27,153            15.3%
    Load Factor                     36.77%         47.40%          (10.6) pts
    RASM (cents)                    30.38          30.09             1.0%

                                  YTD 2008       YTD 2007          Change
    Passengers Enplaned            526,268        533,576           (1.4)%
    Revenue Passenger Miles (000)  142,340        145,019           (1.8)%
    Available Seat Miles (000)     329,219        292,823           12.4%
    Load Factor                      43.24%         49.52%          (6.3) pts
    RASM (cents)                     31.24          29.80            4.8%

Great Lakes is providing scheduled passenger service at 59 airports in seventeen states with a fleet of Embraer EMB-120 Brasilias and Raytheon/Beech 1900D regional airliners. Additional information is available at http://www.flygreatlakes.com including a current route map at http://www.flygreatlakes.com/route_map/route_map.pdf.

All scheduled flights are operated under the Great Lakes Airlines marketing identity in conjunction with code-share agreements with United Airlines and/or Frontier Airlines at our Denver, Phoenix, Kansas City, MO and Ontario, CA hubs. The company also operates hubs in Albuquerque, Milwaukee, and St. Louis.

Contact: Michael Matthews, VP Finance/CFO

              (307) 432-7000