WestJet Airlines Ltd. will be hiking its quarterly dividend to shareholders by 33 per cent and offering passengers more legroom for a new class of premium seating.

"We believe that both business and leisure guests will appreciate the added value a premium economy product will offer and look forward to providing further details as we roll it out early next year," WestJet chief executive Gregg Saretsky said Wednesday.

"Our decision to increase the quarterly dividend demonstrates the robustness of our business model, inclusive of our new regional airline, and its ability to deliver continued profitable growth. We are committed to not only creating value for our shareholders, but also returning value to them."

WestJet currently has only Boeing 737s in its fleet but it's planning to launch a regional service next year — consisting of Bombardier Q400 aircraft — that will allow it to grow its presence in smaller markets.

It announced Wednesday that it has firmed up orders for 20 Q400 NexGen turboprop aircraft, with seven to be delivered in 2013 and the remainder to be delivered in stages through 2016.

WestJet also has options to buy up to 25 additional Q400 aircraft.

The news came as the Calgary-based airline announced a big increase in second-quarter profit that hit a record $42.5 million or 31 cents per share. That was up from $25.6 million or 18 cents per share in the year-earlier period.

Despite the big increase, WestJet missed consensus estimates for profit and revenue.

The average analyst estimate was for a profit of 33 cents per share and revenue of $816 million, according to Thomson Reuters.

WestJet's revenue was up nine per cent from the same time last year, rising to $809.3 million from $742.3 million.

The company says its quarterly dividend will increase to eight cents per share, up two cents per share, starting in late September.

Thunderstorms in June forced the airline to cancel scores of flights in Calgary during a lengthy lightning advisory that brought operations at the airport to a standstill.

During the quarter, WestJet announced a code-share agreement with South Korea's largest airline, Korean Air, and with China Eastern Airlines, one of the largest airlines in China.

Code share agreements allow travellers to more easily transfer from one airline's network to the other's.

In deals came in addition to code-share agreements with American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Delta Air Lines, Japan Airlines, KLM and Korean Air.