SeaPort Airlines will launch service between North Bend and Portland Jan. 15, the company announced Monday.Three daily roundtrip flights are planned Monday through Friday, and one roundtrip flight on Sunday. In the peak summer months, the company plans to add more flights, said the company’s marketing coordinator, Claire James.The fare will be $89 in each direction before taxes and fees, and an introductory $59 fare will be available now through Jan. 15 for travel between Jan. 15 and Feb. 29.

The airline will use nine-passenger Cessna Caravan turboprop aircraft with two pilots. Flights will land at SeaPort’s terminal at Portland International Airport, which is separate from the main terminal, and shuttle service will be provided to the main terminal and the airport’s light rail station.Amenities will include free beverages and Voodoo Doughnuts at the Portland terminal. James said the airline offers other services, such as calling passengers if they’re late showing up for a flight, and calling taxis for passengers when they land.

The new flight will offer passengers more options than SkyWest Airlines, which currently offers once-daily round-trip service to Portland. SkyWest probably will end that service, said Theresa Cook, airport director at North Bend’s Southwest Oregon Regional Airport.Jon Barton, a member of the airport’s board of commissioners, said SeaPort won’t get federal subsidies but will get a break on landing fees and assistance in marketing. Bandon Dunes General Manager Hank Hickox didn’t return a call this morning, but his company has helped SkyWest with marketing in the past.

This isn’t really costing the airport anything material, Barton said.The North Bend airport recently instituted landing fees that would total $225 for a Cessna Caravan. Cook said officials hadn’t formalized any discounts in writing with SeaPort. The board soon will approve a policy on agreements with air carriers.SeaPort has a history of touch-and-go relationships with Northwest communities. In March 2009, SeaPort began service from Portland to Astoria and Newport, with the aid of $4.5 million in government subsidies. In March 2011, when the subsidies ended, the airline pulled out of Astoria, and it pulled out of Newport and Salem in July, saying the routes weren’t profitable.

The Oregonian newspaper reported in July that Newport businesses and city leaders tried to help the airline make the service viable. Local hotels and motels put up the pilots in exchange for flight vouchers, and the city discounted fuel and waived tie-down and landing fees.But the airline’s relationship with Newport was contentious. The Oregonian reported that though the company outbid other carriers to provide the service, it required a subsidy of $928 per passenger  compared with $589 required by its competitor, Cape Air. It also failed to honor provisions in its contract requiring it to provide interline ticketing and baggage agreements.

In addition to North Bend, SeaPort serves Seattle from its Portland hub, serves Alaska from a Juneau hub, and serves Kansas, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas from a Memphis hub. There are no flights from hub to hub.The airline announced over the weekend via Facebook and Twitter that it was discontinuing service between from Boise to Idaho Falls, which it had started in July, and also between Boise and Pendleton.Barton said he was aware of the Newport controversy and the Idaho Falls termination. But he said any improvement in service to Portland was desirable.It’s looking promising for this flight to Salt Lake, but the one weakness we been unable to overcome has been decent service to Portland, he said.