Under slippery conditions, the thickness of accumulated water is affected by uneven runways and changed by the fluctuation of the road surface, and the safety of aircraft take-off and landing is also affected. Therefore, the international flatness index (IRI) was introduced to build a tire-water-pavement finite element model based on the IRI. Through simulation, the influence of different IRI indexes on the critical hydroplaning speed of aircraft was analysed. Combined with IRI index, the reduction range of apparent friction coefficient of pavement with different tire speed and accumulated water thickness was compared, and the influence of IRI on pavement friction performance was analysed. According to the experimental results of apparent friction coefficient of an airport, the simulation results were modified to explore the influence of the IRI on aircraft braking effect. The results show that when the thickness of accumulated water in the pavement levelling section is constant, the critical water skiing speed of aircraft is reduced by the increase of IRI, and it is reduced by about 30% compared with the flat pavement when IRI = 5. When the speed of the aircraft tires is constant, the apparent friction coefficient of the pavement is decreased by the decrease of the level of the pavement smoothness. When IRI = 5, the apparent friction coefficient of the pavement is reduced by as much as 98% compared with the smooth pavement, which seriously affects the safety of the aircraft operation. When the road surface smoothness grade is “ good”, under the same thickness of accumulated water in the pavement levelling section, the apparent friction coefficient between the aircraft tire and the road surface is decreased by the increase of the IRI. Considering the influence of the IRI index and the apparent friction coefficient corrected by the test data on the braking effect of the aircraft, it is found that the braking effect of the aircraft will be degraded with the gradual increase of the flatness index and the thickness of accumulated water in the pavement levelling section. Under the conditions of a domestic airport pavement with 1. 5 < IRI≤2 and the thickness of accumulated water in the pavement levelling section≥7. 66 mm, the braking effect of the aircraft is reduced by a maximum of 2 grades, that is, from “ good to medium” to “medium to poor”, at this time the aircraft directional control and deceleration capabilities are decreased. When the flatness of the water surface is evaluated as “medium” or “ poor”, the degradation of the aircraft braking effect is increased suddenly, and the pavement surface conditions cannot be guaranteed the safety of aircraft operation. And when the thickness of accumulated water in the pavement levelling section is 7. 66 ~ 13 mm, the braking effect of the aircraft is greatly affected by the change of the IRI, and the degradation is changed obviously, so special attention should be paid during the maintenance process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]