More than 10 per cent of holidaymakers take a sick day to get round awkward flight times for trips away, according to a survey.

And of those who have taken a “sickie”, more than half took from two to three days off, the poll by easyJet Holidays showed.

Of those who have never “added” days to their holiday, almost 20 per cent said they would consider taking a sickie in the future.

EasyJet Holidays said it reckoned that as many as nine million bogus sick days are taken every year.

The poll of 1,000 adults also found that Fridays and Saturdays were the most popular days to take flights, with nearly three in five tourists preferring a morning flight.

The survey showed that 55 per cent reckoned value for money was the most important thing about a holiday, followed by transparent pricing and choice of airport.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.