Abstract: The foundation settlement is a key problem that encountered when airports are built, and there is still no foundation differential settlement controlling standards for airport runway in our country and even in the world. The establishment of the runway foundation differential settlement controlling standard is of great significance for improving the airport design level, controlling project cost, and so on. Based on the relevant regulations of runway pavement smooth degree of International Civil Aviation Organization, and combined with two runway pavement settlement observation results of Shanghai Pudong airport, a foundation differential settlement controlling standard of airport runway is established in this paper. The differential settlement control curve of pavement construction period, differential settlement allowable value curve of operation period, and differential settlement limit value curve of operation period, which is maintenance standard, are respectively given in the differential settlement controlling standard, and safety area, warning area and the danger area are divided according to the three curve. The runway longitudinal differential settlement should be controlled in safety zone. This controlling standard has better applicability after confirmed in the two runway of Pudong airport, and this standard is also confirmed in runway damaged section of Wenshan airport, which proves the rationality of the maintenance standard curve. With the increase of the engineering examples, the controlling standard can also be applied to other types of settlement controlling after revised more perfectly.