 The unresolved dispute between British Eagle and the BOT over the payment of import duty on two new 707-365Cs held up the first aircraft's delivery 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.