Boeing 707 center section tanks. Its first flight was on January 11, 1958; 69 turbojet 707-320s were delivered through January 1963, the first passengers being carried (by Pan Am) in August 1959. The 707-420 was identical to the −320, but fitted with Rolls-Royce Conway 508 (RCo.12) turbofans (or by-pass turbojets as Rolls-Royce called them) of 18,000 lb (79 kN) thrust each. The first announced customer was Lufthansa. BOAC's controversial order was announced six months later, but the British carrier got the first service-ready aircraft off the production line. The British Air Registration Board refused to give the aircraft a certificate of airworthiness,
Lloyd International Airways with the Ben Line, a well-known Far Eastern shipping line, to increase air cargo volumes. Lloyd International's first jet aircraft, an ex-Pan Am Boeing 707-321, entered service in 1970. Lloyd's new long-haul jet operated affinity group flights across the North Atlantic to the United States and Canada as well as passenger and freight charters to the Far East. In January 1971, Lloyd International entered into an agreement with East African Airways Corporation (EAAC) to operate scheduled all-cargo services on the latter's behalf between London, Dar es Salaam, Nairobi, Entebbe and Lusaka. This was also the year the airline acquired two