Air Canada won a court battle on Monday giving it preferential use of 14 prime gates at the new passenger terminal at Toronto's Pearson Airport, = a victory that could affect access by no-frills rival WestJet Airlines. The Ontario Superior Court Judge overseeing Air Canada's restructuring = under court protection from creditors ruled that the Greater Toronto Airport Authority must give Air Canada preferential access to 14 gates at the = new terminal, part of a CAD$3.3 billion (USD$2.5 billion) airport expansion project. That would entrench Air Canada, the country's dominant airline, at the = new building to the detriment of Calgary-based WestJet, which was hoping to = be granted access to six of the 14 gates. "I do order the authority to live up to its commitment to provide Air = Canada with the fixed preferential use of the 14 bridge gates at the new = terminal," Justice James Farley wrote in his decision. WestJet recently indicated it was ramping up its fight with Air Canada = for domestic passengers by migrating the bulk of its eastern Canada = operations from Hamilton Airport, about an hour's drive west of Toronto, to = Toronto's Pearson, the busiest airport in Canada. Air Canada officials said they were still interpreting Monday's court = ruling and would issue a statement later. Under its expansion project, the airport, which has three terminals, is replacing its Terminals 1 and 2 with a single new terminal.