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,
Kuwait Airways delivery; it was informed late that year that the airline would not take them. Three Boeing 707-320Cs were ordered in . The carrier made its first profit ever in 1968, with a net income of £910,000. During 1972, Kuwait Airways' consecutive profitable year, the airline had a net profit of £2.9 million. By , the fleet had reduced to five Boeing 707-320C aircraft. That year, flights to Colombo were launched. At , Faisal Saud Al-Fulaij, who employed 1,800, was the chairman of the corporation. In a deal worth million, two additional ex-Pan American Boeing 707-320Cs were subsequently purchased that year,