Lufthansa next month will announce new short-haul economy seats with slimmer frames

that will give passengers five centimeters of extra legroom and allow the airline to install one to two extra rows of seating, according to media reports. The seats are similar to those that subsidiary carrier Austrian Airlines started to install earlier this month. Austrian said that "The New One," which is three to five kilograms lighter than its predecessor, will be available throughout its short-haul fleet by summer 2011. Lufthansa has 200 single-aisle aircraft. It is expected to announce the new short-haul economy seats in mid-December at the same time it unveils a lie-flat long-haul business class seat.