New Delhi, July 31 -- As many as 263 safety-related issues were reported across eight airlines in the last one year, audit findings by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) revealed. The findings were recorded during routine audits and inspections carried out to assess safety compliance among scheduled airlines, the civil aviation regulator said in a statement. Emphasising the need of conducting audits, the DGCA said, "Based on International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) requirements audits are needed to enhance the safety of operations and ensure compliance, and continuous improvement across all facets of airline operations." "These audits findings aid in areas requiring improvement. This is as per Annual Surveillance Plan (ASP) under Safety Oversight Programme," it said. According to its data, the maximum number of observations- 57, were found in Alliance Air, followed by Air India with 51, and Ghodawat Star with 41 findings. To be sure, Alliance Air is a government owned regional airline. IndiGo had 23 findings, while SpiceJet had 14. Quick Jet and Air India Express were flagged with 35 and 25 findings respectively, and Tata SIA Airlines (Vistara) had the lowest at 17. Vistara, however, was merged into Air India in October last year. The findings were classified into two categories, namely, Level 1 which flagged serious issues, and level 2, referring to less critical lapses. Of the total 263 findings, 244 were Level 2, while 19 were Level 1. Vistara (Tata SIA Airlines) and Air India together accounted for the majority of Level 1 findings, at 10 and 7 respectively....