Virgin Australia's $98 million plan to buy regional airline Skywest has been given the go-ahead by the competition watchdog.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has cleared the deal, saying it was unlikely to lead to a substantial lessening of competition.

"The message that we received from the market was broadly supportive of the proposed acquisition," ACCC chairman Rod Sims said in a statement.

"The services that Virgin and Skywest supply are seen as largely complementary, rather than competitive with each other.