of takeoffs and landings at Tempelhof to test the aircraft's short-field performance. On 18 March 1966, BEA's main competitor on the internal German services (IGS) routes, Pan American World Airways (Pan Am), became the first airline to commence regular, year-round jet operations from Tempelhof with new 128-seat, single-class Boeing 727 100 series, one of the first jet aircraft with a short-field capability. Pan Am's move put BEA at a considerable competitive disadvantage, especially on the busy Berlin–Frankfurt route where the former out-competed the latter with both modern jet planes as well as a higher flight frequency. BEA responded to Pan Am by increasing the Berlin-based fleet to 13 Viscounts by winter 1966/7 to offer higher frequencies. This also entailed re-configuring aircraft cabins in a lower-density seating arrangement, as a result of which the refurbished cabins featured only 53 Comet-type first-class seats in a four-abreast layout instead of 66 five-abreast economy seats. In addition, BEA sought to differentiate itself from its main competitor by providing a superior in-flight catering standard. (BEA's Silver Star service included complimentary hot meals on all flights whereas Pan Am only offered free on-board snacks. Sections of the local press dubbed the contrasting strategies of the two main protagonists plying the internal German routes from Berlin – estimated to be worth £15–20 million in annual revenues – the Dinner oder Düsen? ("Dinner or Jet?") battle.) Henceforth, the airline marketed these services as Super Silver Star. The introduction of Pan Am's 727s to the Berlin market represented a major step change because of the aircraft's ability to carry more passengers than any other contemporary aircraft type used by scheduled carriers in the short-haul Berlin market, and its ability to take off from and land on Tempelhof's short runways with a full commercial payload as only light fuel loads were required on the short internal German services. Compared with BEA, Pan Am's 727s carried 20% more passengers than the British carrier's Comet 4Bs and up to 2½ times as many passengers as the latter's Viscounts. Within two years of Pan Am's introduction of jet equipment on the bulk of its internal German services from/to West Berlin, its market share rose from 58% to 68% while BEA's declined from 38% at the beginning of this period to 27% at its end. The lower seat density in BEA's re-configured Viscounts combined with higher flight frequencies, superior catering and increased promotion proved