International flights to Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Los Angeles were flown with Boeing 707s until the introduction of the Boeing 747 in 1973.[citation needed] In 1973, the airline introduced Boeing 747s on its Pacific routes and started a European service to Paris, France using the 707 and then DC-10. In 1975, the airline became one of the first Asian airlines to operate Airbus aircraft with the purchase of 3 Airbus A300s, which were put into immediate service on Asian routes.[4] Since the South Korean planes were prohibited to fly over the Soviet and North Korean airspace during the era, the European routes had to be designed eastbound, such as Gimpo-Anchorage-Paris.