Tiger Airways shareholders have approved Virgin Australia’s plan to buy a major stake in the budget airline.

Virgin on Friday welcomed the decision, saying the vote moved it a step closer to completing the $35 million deal.

Approval is also needed from the Foreign Investment Review Board and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

Virgin surprised the market last October when it announced a $98 million bid for Skywest and a 60%-up of Tiger Airways.

Virgin on Thursday received ACCC approval for the Skywest deal, with the regulator saying it would announced its decision on the Tiger transaction on February 7.