 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.