BEIJING -- The State Council, or the central government, on Thursday issued a plan to create a "safe, convenient and highly efficient" modern civil aviation industry by 2020.

According to the plan, aviation services will cover 89 percent of the population by 2020.

Services and safety in the sector will be steadily improved, with more than 80 percent of flights expected to take off on time, according to the plan.

The civil aviation sector is currently struggling with the uneven allocation of air space, slow progress in infrastructure construction, the poor quality of domestic airlines and poor management, a statement posted Thursday on the Chinese central government's website said.

Civil aviation is rapidly growing in China. Passengers made a total of 293.17 million trips by plane in 2011, up 9.5 percent year-on-year, according to data from the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

CAAC vice-chief Li Jun said he expects the civil aviation market to grow by 10 percent this year.