The volume of air traffic continues to grow, resulting in an increasing frequency of aircraft movements as well as increase in gross weight. To cope with such growth it is necessary to make optimal use of all available runways, taxiways and aprons. An optimum utilization of such resources also means that maintenance has to be structured into a planned approach making it a prerequisite to have insight knowledge of the performance of the pavements, asphalt as well as concrete. By carrying out the right maintenance at the right time, the airport will reduce the overall need for maintenance, which in turn will produce economic benefits. The pressure on the availability of all airport pavements at any time does mean that the condition of pavements has to be forecasted based on reliable performance indicators and performance models. For many airports the PCI procedure is the primary tool for forecasting and budgeting. A pavement condition is often periodically evaluated using various condition measurements such as (automated) visual condition surveys, non-destructive deflection testing (PCN), roughness (BBI) and skid resistance. Bringing all this data together in a PMS like PAVER will allow to visualize the condition of the pavement sections in GIS-based maps. This paper discusses the issues busy international airports do face with the increase in movements approaching saturation levels of the runways leaving ample time for the minimum maintenance required. Machine-based condition measuring tools are required in combination with a long term prediction of the structural as well as functional condition based on proper historic information. This requires proper pavement management to avoid critical maintenance to be executed beyond the point of no return.