Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. Reports December 2005 Traffic

CHEYENNE, Wyo., Jan. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. (BULLETIN BOARD: GLUX) today announced preliminary passenger traffic results for the month of December 2005.

Scheduled service generated 10,408,000 revenue passenger miles (RPM’s), a 1.4 percent decrease from the same month last year. Available seat miles (ASM’s) decreased 1.0 percent to 23,938,000. As a result, load factor decreased 0.2 points to 43.5 percent. Passengers carried increased 2.7 percent to 39,505 when compared to December 2004. Preliminary revenue per available seat mile (RASM) increased 21.5 % from 23.18 cents to 28.16 cents.

For the twelve months ending December 31, 2005 compared to the same twelve month period in 2004, revenue passenger miles (RPM’s) decreased 12.1 percent to 117,761,000 and available seat miles (ASM’s) decreased 12.9 percent to 280,579,000, resulting in a load factor of 42.0 percent for the year 2005 realizing no change in load factor for the same twelve month period in 2004. The company carried 443,304 revenue passengers for the twelve month period ending December 31, 2005, an 8.5 percent decrease from the prior year. Preliminary revenue per available seat mile (RASM) increased 16.9% from 22.51 cents to 26.31 cents on a year-over-year basis.

                 DECEMBER 2005 AND YEAR TO DATE STATISTICS                                December 2005    December 2004    Change   Passengers Enplaned              39,505           38,469       2.7%   Revenue Passenger Miles (000)    10,408           10,558      (1.4%)   Available Seat Miles (000)       23,938           24,177      (1.0%)   Load Factor                      43.5%            43.7%       (0.2) points   RASM (cents)                     28.16            23.18       21.5%                                     YTD 2005         YTD 2004    Change   Passengers Enplaned              443,304          484,428     (8.5%)   Revenue Passenger Miles (000)    117,761          133,948     (12.1%)   Available Seat Miles (000)       280,579          318,904     (12.9%)   Load Factor                      42.0%            42.0%       0 points   RASM (cents)                     26.31            22.51       16.9%     

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/