The airline recently took delivery of its first jet, an Airbus A320.

In an interview with the Times of India, Chief Executive Officer Mittu Chandilya said he was not at all frustrated by the many delays, amid an initial target to start operations last year.

"No. Frankly, a lot of people didn't expect us to come this far. I generally feel the government wants us here, except for the competition," he told the English daily when asked if he was frustrated by the delays.

"Again, which competitor wants another and I see their point of view. I also see the ferocity with which they have come at us. It shows that we mean what we say. When they are displaying that kind of ferocity, we will not disappoint them.

"In fact, the delay in getting certain approvals has helped AirAsia India learn from its competitors," he added.

Asked about the low fares recently announced by SpiceJet, Indigo and Jet Airways, he said everything that is happening now is not really "low-fare".

"It is very gimmicky. Spot fares are done to spur demand. To be fair to our competitors, they have done it at the right time for themselves. They needed cash.

"The challenge for any airline is to see how to keep the fares consistently low. That is truly the low-cost/low-fare airline. That is what we are aiming to do," Mittu added.

He reiterated that AirAsia India's fares would be at least 30 per cent cheaper, depending on the routes.

He also said the airline will operate to every big city, other than Mumbai and New Delhi.

"It is tough as Mumbai and Delhi are attractive, but the cost is not competitive and competition a lot more.

"Plus, everybody is going there. Why would I want to go to an already crowded market, which is going to slow down my aircraft turnaround time. We will saturate the 12 to 16 southern airports first," he said.

Mittu said AirAsia India will run an extremely streamlined operation with no room for error.

"With a low plane base, a single mistake can wipe out your entire month's profitability. The focus is on time and utilisation. It is a dog-eat-dog game.

We have always turned out to be the biggest dog out there," he added. -- BERNAMA