from May to September and four times a week during the remainder of the year. This was to be marketed as Skytrain for £32.50 one-way in winter and £37.50 in summer. Two Boeing 707-138Bs were acquired from the administrators of British Eagle in 1969. Both were operated by Qantas when new. They were subsequently purchased by Kleinwort Benson, which had leased them to British Eagle until its demise in November 1968. These aircraft were earmarked for Skytrain. Laker's original Skytrain application assumed a 62.9% break-even load factor. This meant that the airline needed to sell 100 out of 158 seats at a single fare of £37.50 per seat on each flight to start making money with Skytrain. Sir Freddie announced Skytrain at a press conference at London's Savoy Hotel on 30 June 1971. Laker claimed that there was demand for this kind of service and maintained that it would grow the total number of passengers flying between Britain and the United States each year from 14m to 16m, rather than diverting other airlines' existing passengers. Since approval for Skytrain was not forthcoming for several years, Laker Airways needed alternative work to keep its long-haul planes busy. Initially, both Boeing 707s supplemented the BAC One-Elevens on Mediterranean and Canary Islands routes, such as Gatwick – Palma de Mallorca and Gatwick–Tenerife. Both aircraft replaced Bristol Britannias on the airline's long-haul flights, an increasing number of which were affinity group charters to North America, primarily the US. During summer 1970, Laker sought the UK and Australian authorities' permission to operate a series of affinity group charter flights to Australia. Following his request's refusal, he flew to Australia in early 1971 to discuss his proposal for 15-day inclusive tours from Australia to the UK, including full board at first class hotels for A$935, with the director-general of the Australian Department of Civil Aviation who doubled as Qantas's chairman. Freddie Laker’s visit did not succeed in convincing the Australian authorities of his proposal's merits as a result of lobbying from BOAC and Qantas, both of which were estimated to have lost £11 million in revenue due to competition from charter airlines on the Kangaroo route. From December 1970, one of Laker's two 707s was used for a once-a-week low-fare service linking Luxembourg with Barbados on behalf of International Caribbean Airways, a joint venture between Barbados businessmen Norman Ricketts and Geoffrey Edwards, who enjoyed the support