at the beginning of February 1968, with HM Customs demanding payment of £440,000 before releasing the aircraft. The dispute was resolved with the airline agreeing to pay the duty once the Bermudan-registered aircraft was operating in British Eagle livery. This was not going to be the case for at least another year as the aircraft had been wet-leased to Middle East Airlines (MEA) as of 1 March. British Eagle had made operating the aircraft in its own colours dependent on the outcome of the applications to the ATLB for licences to operate scheduled and non-scheduled services between London and New York as well as London, Bermuda and Nassau from 1 April 1969. The airline had held out the prospect of placing a follow-on order for an additional two 707-365Cs in the case of these applications being approved and relevant licences awarded. Return to the western hemisphere In addition to taking delivery of the first of a pair of brand-new 707-365Cs ordered directly from Boeing, British Eagle also began operating two second-hand, shorter-fuselage 707-138Bs sourced from Qantas. The latter aircraft were used to operate a new Caribbean charter programme. The arrival at Nassau of Boeing 707-138B G-AVZZ Endeavour on a pre-inaugural IT flight in February 1968 marked the airline's return to the Bahamian capital six years after Cunard Eagle's transatlantic operations had been absorbed into BOAC-Cunard. These services were subsequently extended to Jamaica, Antigua and Barbados. 20th anniversary By the time of its 20th anniversary on 14 April 1968, British Eagle ranked fourth among the five major contemporary UK airlines (behind BEA, BOAC and BUA, and ahead of Caledonian). The airline's 24 aircraft included eight jets, six of which had been acquired direct from their manufacturers. These included a Boeing 707-365C leased out to MEA and five BAC One-Eleven 300 series. Kleinwort Benson were the owners of the 707-365C and two second-hand -138Bs that had been acquired from Qantas, while Kuwait Finance Agency, the overseas investment arm of the Kuwait government, and British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) respectively owned three and two of the five One-Elevens. British Eagle operated all of these aircraft under lease purchase agreements with the owners. By that time, the company's scheduled service network included routes from London Heathrow to Liverpool, Glasgow, Newquay, Luxembourg, Dinard, La Baule, Lourdes, Perpignan, Gerona, Palma de Mallorca, Ibiza, Pisa, Rimini, Stuttgart, Innsbruck, Djerba and Tunis. The firm also operated a large number