Boeing 707 version was numbered 707-320. Pan Am was the first airline to operate the 707; the carrier inaugurated 707 service with a christening at National Airport on October 17, 1958, attended by President Eisenhower, followed by a transatlantic flight for VIPs (personal guests of founder Juan Trippe) from Baltimore's Friendship International Airport to Paris. The aircraft's first commercial flight was from Idlewild Airport, New York, to Le Bourget, Paris, on October 26, 1958, with a fuel stop in Gander, Newfoundland. In December, National Airlines operated the first U.S. domestic jet airline flights between New York/Idlewild and Miami, using 707s leased from
Giles Guthrie in total. Guthrie resumed flying and captained proving flights of the VC10, including a transatlantic demonstration to Boston. BOAC were permitted to purchase two Boeing 707 freighters during 1965 and after taking full ownership of the BOAC-Cunard joint venture, the two Boeing 707 passenger jets which Cunard Line had contributed to the joint venture (through their Cunard Eagle Airways subsidiary) passed to BOAC. Passenger growth and load factors quickly increased under Guthrie's tenure, and he invested in larger aircraft with more passenger capacity than either the Vickers Super VC10 or the Boeing 707 could provide. Boeing and Pan American World