Southwest Airlines takes delivery of its first Boeing 737-800 at Dallas Love Field on March 19, 2012. (credit: Southwest Airlines)

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM/AP) – Southwest Airlines is rolling out the first of a new, larger plane that will start hauling passengers next month.

The Dallas-based airline introduced its first Boeing 737-800 on Wednesday during a launch party for several hundred employees in a hangar at Dallas Love Field Airport.

The plane holds 175 passengers, 38 more than the biggest plane now in Southwest’s fleet. Airline executives say that will mean more revenue per flight.

The airline took delivery of the aircraft nearly two weeks ago and is scheduled to put the plane into regular service on April 11.

Southwest plans to get more than 70 more of the new jets in the next two years.

(©2012 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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