Virgin Australia cuts capacity, citing election, soft consumer sentiment

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd, the country's No. 2 airline, on Monday blamed uncertainty about an upcoming Federal election and weak consumer demand as it warned that it will cut capacity for the remainder of fiscal 2016.

The airline said underlying pre-tax profit jumped 16.2 percent to A$18.6 million ($14.17 million) in the three months to March 31, but warned it will cut its June quarter capacity by 5.1 percent due to "weak consumer demand and sentiment, uncertainty around the federal election and the resources sector downturn".

(Reporting by Byron Kaye; Editing by Stephen Coates)