In May, the government set a cap of 478,000 flights per year using the hub, with an annual maximum of 27,000 between 11:00 pm and 7:00 am.

But the Council of State, the country's highest administrative court, slapped down the decision.

The ministry "did not carefully draft" the legislation and "did not provide sufficient reasoning for it", the court ruled. "Therefore the decision cannot stand."

"The consequence of the ruling is that the previous Airport Traffic Decree from 2008 remains in effect, which did not specify a total maximum number of flights per year," said the court.

Airlines had complained the government decision would crimp their activity while local residents and pressure groups had argued for heftier limits given noise and air pollution.

The government is already working on an updated version of its plan for Schiphol.

According to data from industry group ACI Europe, Schiphol was the fourth busiest European hub last year, with 68.77 million passengers.

London Heathrow, Istanbul and Paris Charles de Gaulle airports were the only busier hubs on the continent.