led Lord Douglas to believe that turboprops would continue to be the mainstay of BEA's fleet into the 1960s. On 31 March 1955, BEA completed its first profitable financial year, recording an operating profit of £552,314 and a net profit of £63,039. In July 1955, BEA became the launch customer for the Vanguard, Vickers' new high-capacity turboprop powered by four Rolls-Royce RB109 "Tyne" engines. The airline's launch order was for 20 aircraft, including six Vanguard V.951s and 14 heavier V.953s. In mid-1955, BEA entered into a 10-year operating agreement with its associate Cambrian Airways. This resulted in the latter launching new services from Liverpool and Manchester to Jersey (via Bristol and Cardiff) on behalf of the former. In its 1955–56 financial year, BEA carried more than two million passengers for the first time at an all-time high average load factor of 69.4%. During that period, it recorded a profit of £603,614, mainly as a result of revenue growth accounted for by the Viscount fleet. In 1956, BEA acquired a 25% minority shareholding in Jersey Airlines and the corporation's Southampton–Guernsey and Southampton–Alderney routes transferred to the independent. 1956 was also the year BEA began using Viscounts for nightfreight operations to increase cargo capacity as well as the aircraft's utilisation. While BEA continued taking delivery of Viscount 701s, it placed its first order for 12 larger 66- to 68-seat Viscount 802/806s. These were delivered from February 1957. By 1958, BEA had 77 Viscounts in service. On 7 February 1958, BEA acquired a 33⅓% minority shareholding in Welsh independent regional airline Cambrian Airways. In March 1958, BEA ordered six de Havilland DH106 Comet 4B jet aircraft for delivery from 1960. This was BEA's answer to the impending introduction of the Sud-Est Caravelle, Air France's new short-/medium-range jet, on the French flag carrier's European, North African and Middle Eastern network, including the prime Heathrow – Le Bourget route from July 1959. The arrival at Heathrow on 30 July 1958 of a BEA Elizabethan from Cologne marked the type's last service with the airline. Although its operating costs on short routes such as London–Paris were lower than the Viscount's, the piston type could not match the turboprop's passenger appeal. Unlike the Pionairs and Leopards, which continued serving regional feeder and freight routes, Elizabethans were deployed on trunk routes where passenger appeal was more important; this further hastened their demise in BEA service. On 12 August