Why some airlines avoid particular numbers

RyanAir passenger Tom Cotter once shared an interesting observation online. On his flight, there was no row 13. "Why ever not? Superstition? Surely not!," the man wrote. OBOZREVATEL found out the real reason.

The fact is that skipping row 13 is an established tradition in aircraft production. In most European countries, this number has a strong negative connotation. For example, Air France and Iberia do not have a row with this number.

Some airlines also skip the number 17. This is because its Roman spelling, XVII, is similar to the Latin anagram VIXI, which roughly translates to "my life is over." Seventeen is believed to be particularly unlucky in Italy and Brazil.

Airlines operating in China often skip row 14. After all, if translated, 14 sounds like "will certainly die."

It's not just airlines that take heed of such superstitions. Some hotels, trains, and even cruise ships do not use "unlucky" numbers at all too.

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