Due to dwindling passenger demand, SAS has decided to axe its flight between the Norwegian city of Stavanger and Houston and instead establish a new route between Copenhagen and New York.

SAS cited the struggling oil industry as the reason for its decision to close the flight between the US oil hub Houston and the Norwegian oil capital Stavanger.

“The oil route was necessary for our core clients in the oil industry,” said Eivind Roald, the executive vice president of commercial activities for SAS.

“We have done all we can to make it viable; however, we have had to accept that the downturn in the industry is unfortunately also impacting on us: hence our decision to switch to Copenhagen-New York, where the market offers far more potential right now.”

READ MORE: SAS announcing new routes to the US

Upping capacity
The Houston route will be flown for the final time from Stavanger on October 23, with the final return leg of the route returning the following day from Houston.

Meanwhile, SAS will change its aircraft type from the CRJ900 to the Airbus 320 and 321 on several of its routes between Copenhagen and Stavanger, thus increasing its capacity between the cities by 20 percent.

The new route to New York means that SAS now has two flights departing from Copenhagen to New York every day.