easyJet has today launched a new service from Liverpool to Lisbon in Portugal, one of 17 new routes introduced by the low-cost carrier this week.

easyJet will fly four times a week from Liverpool to the popular Portuguese capital, on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Fares start at £38.98 return including taxes, and easyJet is hoping to carry around 43,000 passengers on the route in the next year.

Other new routes starting this week include Belfast to Venice, Bristol to Gdansk, Bournemouth to Krakow, Glasgow to Paris, Gatwick to Sofia, Stansted to Funchal in Madeira, and Luton to Vienna.

easyJet expects to carry close to one million passengers on these new routes in the next 12 months, and says the most popular new destinations for 2008 are Austria, Bulgaria and Madeira.