Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. Reports February 2006 Traffic

CHEYENNE, Wyo., March 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. (BULLETIN BOARD: GLUX) today announced preliminary passenger traffic results for the month of February 2006.

Scheduled service generated 9,570,000 revenue passenger miles (RPM’s), a 10.5 percent increase from the same month last year. Available seat miles (ASM’s) increased 6.0 percent to 21,809,000. As a result, load factor increased 1.8 points to 43.88 percent. Passengers carried increased 12.8 percent to 36,290 when compared to February 2005. Preliminary revenue per available seat mile (RASM) increased 17.6 percent from 23.86 cents to 28.06 cents.

For the two months ending February 28, 2006 compared to the same two month period in 2005, revenue passenger miles (RPM’s) increased 7.9 percent to 19,236,000 and available seat miles (ASM’s) increased 10.3 percent to 46,445,000, resulting in a load factor of 41.42 percent for the year 2006 resulting in a decrease in load factor of 0.9 points compared to the same two month period in 2005. The company carried 72,996 revenue passengers for the two month period ending February 28, 2006, a 10.2 percent increase from the prior year. Preliminary revenue per available seat mile (RASM) increased 13.8 percent from 23.72 cents to 26.99 cents on a year-over-year basis.

                 FEBRUARY 2006 AND YEAR TO DATE STATISTICS                                     Feb-06          Feb-05         Change   Passengers Enplaned              36,290          32,175         12.8%   Revenue Passenger Miles (000)     9,570           8,657         10.5%   Available Seat Miles (000)       21,809          20,571          6.0%   Load Factor                       43.88%          42.08%         1.8 pts   RASM (cents)                      28.06           23.86         17.6%                                     YTD 2006        YTD 2005         Change   Passengers Enplaned              72,996          66,233         10.2%   Revenue Passenger Miles (000)    19,236          17,827          7.9%   Available Seat Miles (000)       46,445          42,118         10.3%   Load Factor                       41.42%          42.33%        (0.9) pts   RASM (cents)                      26.99           23.72         13.8%     

Great Lakes is providing scheduled passenger service at 40 airports in ten states with a fleet of Embraer EMB-120 Brasilias and Raytheon/Beech 1900D regional airliners. A total of 198 weekday flights are scheduled at three hubs, with 144 flights at Denver, 8 flights at Albuquerque, and 20 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 and Phoenix International Airport hubs.

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

Contact: Michael Matthews, VP Finance/CFO

(307) 432-7000

Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd.

CONTACT: Michael Matthews, VP Finance/CFO of Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd.,+1-307-432-7000

Web site: http://www.greatlakesav.com/