CHEYENNE, Wyo., Oct. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. (BULLETIN BOARD: GLUX) today announced preliminary passenger traffic results for the month of September 2007.
Scheduled service generated 13,428,000 revenue passenger miles (RPM's), a 20.3 percent increase from the same month last year. Available seat miles (ASM's) increased 17.0 percent to 26,745,000. As a result, load factor increased 1.4 points to 50.21 percent. Passengers carried increased 13.7 percent to 49,372 when compared to September 2006. Preliminary revenue per available seat mile (RASM) decreased 3.9 percent from 31.04 cents to 29.84 cents.
For the nine months ending September 30, 2007 compared to the same nine month period in 2006, revenue passenger miles (RPM's) increased 18.6 percent to 117,139,000 and available seat miles (ASM's) increased 9.5 percent to 235,736,000, resulting in a load factor of 49.69 percent for the year 2007 effecting an increase in load factor of 3.8 points compared to the same nine month period in 2006. The company carried 430,704 revenue passengers for the nine month period ending September 30, 2007, a 13.7 percent increase from the prior year. Preliminary revenue per available seat mile (RASM) was negligible from 29.77 cents to 29.76 cents on a year-over-year basis.
SEPTEMBER 2007 AND YEAR TO DATE STATISTICS Sept-07 Sept-06 Change Passengers Enplaned 49,372 43,430 13.7% Revenue Passenger Miles (000) 13,428 11,165 20.3% Available Seat Miles (000) 26,745 22,867 17.0% Load Factor 50.21% 48.82% 1.4 pts RASM (cents) 29.84 31.04 (3.9%) YTD 2007 YTD 2006 Change Passengers Enplaned 430,704 378,803 13.7% Revenue Passenger Miles (000) 117,139 98,808 18.6% Available Seat Miles (000) 235,736 215,379 9.5% Load Factor 49.69% 45.88% 3.8pts RASM (cents) 29.76 29.77 0.0%
Effective November 4, 2007, Great Lakes will be providing scheduled passenger service at 43 airports in eleven states with a fleet of Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia's and Raytheon/Beech 1900D regional airliners. All scheduled flights at the company's hubs in Albuquerque, Denver, Kansas City, Phoenix and St. Louis are operated under the Great Lakes Airlines marketing identity. Code-share agreements with United Airlines and/or Frontier Airlines are currently in place for flights scheduled at our Denver International Airport and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport hubs.
On October 4, 2007, the company was notified by the U.S. Department of Transportation that it has been selected to provide Essential Air Service (EAS) at five additional cities in California, Nevada and Utah. The company is planning its implementation time lines for EAS service from Merced and Visalia in California and Ely, Nevada to Las Vegas, Nevada (the company's sixth hub). The company will also return to Moab and Vernal, Utah with scheduled EAS service to its Denver hub. Announcements on service implementation will be provided at a later date.
Additional information is available on the company web site that may be accessed at http://www.flygreatlakes.com/
Contact: Michael Matthews, VP Finance/CFO
(307) 432-7000
