During 1978, Abidjan and Birmingham joined BCal's scheduled route network. At the start of the 1978/79 winter timetable period, Benghazi joined the network. At that time, the airline also increased frequencies between London Gatwick and Paris Charles de Gaulle to seven daily round-trips on week days, with flights operating at two-hourly intervals. The addition of twice-weekly flights to the Libyan port city of Benghazi to the existing five weekly services to Tripoli meant that for the first time BCal was able to offer its passengers daily flights to Libya, an important market for profitable, oil-related business travel. BCal's introduction of a 747 on the daily Gatwick—Houston schedule furthermore enabled it to replace its two-class configured One-Eleven 500s on the West African coastal schedule to Banjul (The Gambia) and Freetown (Sierra Leone) via Casablanca and Las Palmas with 707s. The 707's greater range enabled it to cut out intermediate stops and offer its passengers a more convenient, direct routeing that took less time. BCal replaced two-class One-Elevens operating on the Tripoli route with 707s.