New Delhi, Aug 3 (IANS): Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel Tuesday said the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is framing new guidelines to ensure that safety is not affected by the financial distress of airlines.

"DGCA has also started evaluating the financial health of scheduled airlines and its impact on safety and is in the process of framing regulations to ensure that safety is not compromised on account of financial distress of airlines," Patel said in the Rajya Sabha.

He also said a Civil Aviation Safety Advisory Council (CASAC) has been set up in the DGCA to formulate new safety guidelines.

CASAC was set-up in the aftermath of the tragic air crash of Air India's jet IX 812 in Mangalore May 22.

"Council has constituted four different working groups for operations, airworthiness, air navigation and aerodromes," Patel added.

On June 2, DGCA decided that a team of officials from Aerodrome and Flight Standard Directorate shall carry out special audit of airports identified as critical on a priority basis.

Currently, 11 airports- Agartala, Calicut, Jammu, Kullu, Latur, Leh, Lengpui, Mangalore, Patna, Port Blair and Shimla- have been identified as critical.

"The challenge before DGCA is to manage phenomenal growth of air traffic without compromising on aviation safety," Patel added.