The invention relates to the technical field of heavy oil thermal recovery, especially a method for exploiting thick-layer heavy oil reservoir by in situ combustion assisted gravity drainage. The method comprises the following steps: firstly, under condition that the existing well network is not exchanged, sealing the penetrated perforation in the middle-upper part of the production well by cement slurry or packer; setting aside a 10-meter perforation segment for releasing oil in the lower part of the oil layer; keeping 10 meters of the upper parts of the air injecting well and the combustion perforation, sealing the lower ground layer by cement or packer, so as to form the in situ combustion assisted gravity drainage well network; heating the air in the air injecting well to higher than the threshold temperature of the high-temperature oxidation reaction of the crude oil by formation preheating or electric heater; according to the designing requirement, continuously injecting the air into the formation, so that the crude oil can flow outside from the lower perforation oil discharging channel of the production well; the crude oil is lifted to ground by using a lifting device. The invention realizes small limit on reservoir depth, the gas channeling is reduced and the crude oil output is increased.