The Stop Stansted Expansion Group has lost its battle to block the decision to expand the airport.
The High Court dismissed the legal challenge and said the group’s arguments were “unjustified and without substance”.
The group had accused the government of unlawfully “steamrollering these plans every step of the way”. It wanted the court to block plans to have an extra 10 million passengers a year pass through the airport.
SSE was ordered to pay the government’s legal costs from the High Court hearing up to a limit of £20,000.
Following the judge’s ruling that the government’s decision to approve permission was legal, the SSE campaign director Carol Barbone said: “This High Court action was never simply about winning or losing.
“Our primary concern was to ensure that our main battle against a second Stansted runway was not prejudiced by the wording of the original decision.”