A new campaign group has been created to fight the Dutch government¡¯s plans to reduce the number of flights permitted from Amsterdam¡¯s Schiphol airport.

But the backers of the Red Schiphol Campaign are choosing to stay anonymous for ¡°the time being¡±. The group said this was due to the ¡°aggressive response by certain environmental activist groups¡±.

The current government in the Netherlands is to limit Schiphol¡¯s flights to 460,000 per year for the 12 months ending in September 2024, as a measure to help reduce noise and air pollution. A further reduction to 440,000 flights per year is also planned.

Earlier this month, a group of major airlines,?including KLM, Delta Air Lines and easyJet, launched a legal challenge to the Dutch government¡¯s decision to ¡°unilaterally¡± reduce capacity from Schiphol.

Red Schiphol Campaign said it planned to ¡°unite businesses, community activists and trade bodies¡± opposed to the new restrictions on flights from Schiphol, with the aim of having the policy reversed. It has already launched a petition calling on the government to change what it calls the ¡°440 decision¡±.

The campaign is being co-ordinated by UK-based research firm SABI Strategy Group, with account manager George Chichester acting as the group¡¯s campaign manager.

¡°Schiphol airport is a national asset that helps?the Netherlands?to punch above its weight in terms of global business connectivity,¡± said Chichester.

¡°The airport directly employs over 2,000 people and supports many more jobs throughout the wider economy. In 2019, IATA predicted that if Dutch air travel was weakened, a worrying 84,000 jobs could be lost in the future.¡±

The campaign said that reducing the number of flights at Schiphol would lead to higher ticket prices as airlines are forced to fight for the remaining slots.

¡°Climate change is the most important challenge of this decade, with potentially serious consequences for both current and future generations,¡± added Chichester.

¡°However, limiting the number of flights at Schiphol will simply divert the same planes to other hub airports such as Heathrow and?Charles De Gaulle; doing nothing to bring down global emissions from aviation.¡±

The campaign said on its website: ¡°Given the aggressive response by certain environmental activist groups, supporters prefer to keep their identities anonymous for the time being. ?

¡°In time, we hope to showcase some of the individuals and businesses who are supporting this campaign.¡±