In the early 1970s, the British Overseas Aircraft Corporation (BOAC) was looking for a way to compete with Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) and Trans World Airlines (TWA) on flights between London Heathrow Airport (LHR) and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). At the time, the two American carriers were using widebody Boeing 747s on the route, leaving BOAC to compete, flying smaller Boeing 707s and VC-10s.