(Adds details on results from rival Qantas)
SYDNEY, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Virgin Australia (VAH) said on Wednesday it swung to a loss in the first quarter of the financial year because of subdued trading conditions, particularly in Australia's domestic aviation market.
Australia's second-biggest airline on Wednesday reported an underlying loss before tax of A$3.6 million ($2.76 million) for the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with an underlying profit before tax of A$8.5 million a year earlier.
Virgin said it was actively managing capacity as needed in the tough trading environment. Its domestic capacity rose by 0.6 percent in the quarter but it still managed to fill a higher proportion of seats, up 2 percentage points to 81.2 percent. Virgin did not comment on yields, or ticket prices, on Wednesday.
On Monday, rival Qantas Airways (QAN) said it would reduce domestic capacity by 1 percent in the first half after experiencing soft demand in the first quarter that led to a 2.9 percent decline in revenue from a year earlier.
Qantas said there had been a fall in demand for flying on mining and oil and gas industry routes and corporate and government bookings had declined before and immediately after a federal election in July. The airline also pointed to tough conditions in the international market. ($1 = 1.3062 Australian dollars)
