Two people can make about as much noise as a jumbo jet, according to the CEO of the Calgary Airport Authority.

Bob Sartor told city council on Monday that overall noise complaints were down more than one-third from the previous year.

But two people are responsible for 2,800 of those complaints — about 46 per cent of the calls, Sartor said.

"There are certain people that the only thing that will satisfy them is a shut down of an airport that employs 48,000 people directly and indirectly and generates almost $8.3 billion of GDP for the city," he said.

"There are some constituencies with which we will never win."

New flight paths reduced complaints

Sartor said the reduction of complaints from the rest of the population is thanks to new flight paths that aim to reduce excessive aircraft noise over populated areas in the city.

"And in fact our complaints are down 39 per cent year over year and if we were to back out the individuals who complain almost four times a day, they'd be down materially," he said.

"There would be very few complaints."

The airport was inundated with complaints when its new runway opened in 2014. But it then introduced new flights paths that keep aircraft closer to industrial areas and force them to fly higher and straighter.