Expedia and Northwest make up

Nearly three weeks after online travel Web site Expedia pulled Northwest Airlines from its service, the two companies said Monday that they had mended fences.

Expedia will once again let its visitors purchase Northwest flights on its U.S.- and Canadian-based sites. The companies issued a terse press release Monday and offered no details about the new deal. Expedia and Northwest also said that the terms of the deal would have no material effect on either company.

"We have a longstanding partnership with Northwest and are pleased to have reached mutually agreeable terms," Erik Blachford, president of Expedia, North America, said in a statement.

Conflict between the two companies surfaced earlier this month when Expedia pulled Northwest listings off its site after negotiations over pricing broke down. Northwest complained that Expedia's proposed listing prices were too high compared with other online distributors such as Expedia rival Orbitz.

This is not the first time that Northwest has had a conflict with online travel agencies over the price of listing their flights. In June, it suspended an offer of discounted tickets to Priceline.com because of concerns about changes in Priceline's business model.

Still, Northwest has an interest in the success of online travel. The airline is one of the founding members of Orbitz and also owns an undisclosed share in Hotwire.

[tarasnow]

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