Through Industry Downturn Avantair Delivers Quarterly Operating Profitability and Record Gains in Both Flight Time Cards Sold and Flight Hours

CLEARWATER, Fla. - November 16, 2009 - Avantair, Inc. (OTCBB: AAIR), the sole North American provider of flight hour time cards and fractional shares in the Piaggio Avanti aircraft, today announced financial results for its fiscal first quarter ended September 30, 2009.

First Quarter Fiscal 2010 Highlights:

• Total revenues of $35.2 million, an increase of 7.7%, as compared to $32.7 million for the three months ended September 30, 2008.
• Flight time cards sold for the three months ended September 30, 2009 increased 69% to 86 compared to 51 flight time cards sold during the fiscal fourth quarter ended June 30, 2009, and 219% from 27 for the fiscal first quarter ended September 30, 2008.
• Revenue-generating flight hours flown reached a new quarterly record, increasing 13% quarter-over-quarter to 9,356 hours compared to 8,277 hours for the fiscal fourth quarter ended June 30, 2009, and increasing 11% year-over-year compared to 8,393 for the fiscal first quarter ended September 30, 2008.
• Operating income of $249,000, compared with an operating loss of $1.9 million in the first fiscal quarter of 2009.
• EBITDA profit (profitable results from operations before depreciation and amortization) of $1.7 million, compared with an EBITDA loss of $820,000 in the first fiscal quarter of 2009.
• Net loss attributable to common stockholders of $1.8 million, or $0.11 per basic and diluted common share, compared with a net loss attributable to common stockholders of $3.7 million, or $0.24 per basic and diluted common share, for the fiscal first quarter of 2009.
• Closed tranche of a PIPE (Private Investment in a Public Entity) financing on September 25th for $0.6 million, and through October 16th, the Company sold an additional 8.8 million shares of common stock generating net proceeds of approximately $8.0 million (subsequent event).
• Fleet size increased to 55 aircraft, with three new Piaggio Avanti II aircraft in October (subsequent event).

Steven Santo, Chief Executive Officer of Avantair, stated, “We delivered impressive record gains in flight time card sales and revenue-generating flight hours flown during the first quarter, both of which support our recent fleet expansion of an additional four aircraft, three of which have already been received and one of which is expected to be added during the current quarter. Our program success is especially outstanding considering industry reports that indicate a downturn in private jet travel. Satisfied Avantair customers keep referring new customers, which is building our brand equity and driving the expansion of our market presence.

“In entering fiscal 2010, we’ve reached an important inflection point in our business where we believe we are getting close to our goal of sustainable profitability. We believe there are significant barriers to successful entry into our light-jet private transportation category, where we have already established critical mass, scale economies, and low-cost luxury transport leadership. While competitors are downsizing operations in the current environment, we are adding pilots, flight hours, aircraft, and adding to our sales force to meet escalating demand,” Mr. Santo continued.

“Environmental concern is yet another factor working in our favor. With travelers seeking responsible private transportation and alternatives to high cost, high emission air travel, customers are placing increasing value on our Piaggio aircraft fleet which offers the lowest fuel burn and carbon emissions in the industry.

“Our excellence in each of these areas reinforces Avantair’s highly competitive market position and supports our growth profile over the long term. With exciting sales and marketing initiatives planned over the next several quarters, we look forward to achieving even more milestones and building greater value for our shareholders during fiscal year 2010.”

Use of Non-GAAP Measures of Performance
The Company believes that EBITDA (results from operations before depreciation and amortization) is useful to investors as it excludes certain non-cash expenses that do not directly relate to the operation of aircraft. This measure is a supplement to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) used to prepare the Company’s financial statements and should not be viewed as a substitute for GAAP measures. In addition, the Company’s non-GAAP measure may not be comparable to non-GAAP measures of other companies. Income from operations, which the Company believes to be the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure, would include depreciation and amortization expense. Depreciation and amortization expense was approximately $1.5 million and $1.1 million for the three months ended September 30, 2009 and 2008, respectively, resulting in income from operations of approximately $249,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2009 and loss from operations of approximately $1.9 million for the three months ended September 30, 2008.

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