Flight numbers are an important thing for passengers and airline staff to remember, but, for the most part, they are little more than a random selection of digits that tie everything together. However, some have greater significance, whether due to accidental humor (such as Lufthansa flight LH2222 to Toulouse) or due to being specially selected to mark a certain occasion (such as Eurowings flight EW1909).

Across the world, different numbers also have different meanings when it comes to superstition, which goes some way to explaining why relatively few carriers use 666, the ‘number of the beast.’ Likewise, 13 is often considered to be an unlucky number, and, in the US, only one route serving the country currently uses this designation. Let’s take a closer look at the significance of this long-haul corridor.

The One & Only

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The service in question is Etihad Airways flight EY13, which links the UAE flag carrier’s main hub at Zayed International Airport (AUH) in Abu Dhabi with Hartsfield Jackson International Airport (ATL) in Atlanta, Georgia. This route has been operational for just over a year, having launched on July 2, 2025. Our very own James Pearson was on the first flight, and, as it happens, he was born on Friday the 13th!

Flight numbers often work in pairs, and correspondingly, the return leg from Atlanta back to Abu Dhabi operates as Etihad Airways flight EY14. The carrier was also keen to highlight at the time of the route’s launch that passengers can avail of American preclearance facilities in Abu Dhabi, meaning that they save time and effectively arrive in the US as domestic passengers. Etihad CEO Antonoaldo Neves added:

“Atlanta is a dynamic city with deep cultural, economic, and aviation significance. This new service enhances access to the southeastern United States while offering seamless connections across the Middle East, Indian Subcontinent, and Asia.”

Daily A350 Flights

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Etihad Airways clearly saw a lot of potential in its new route from Abu Dhabi to Atlanta. After all, it is the only carrier serving this long-haul city pair on a nonstop basis. However, with new routes, it is important for airlines not to run before they can walk. With this in mind, Etihad launched the corridor with four flights a week, although high load factors and strong early booking demand soon forced a change.

Indeed, by November 2025, the airline had boosted its frequency on this route to daily, with current scheduling data made available by Cirium, an aviation analytics company, showing that this remains the case today, with 31 rotations penciled in this July. All of them use the Airbus A350-1000, with EY13 scheduled to leave Abu Dhabi at 9:20 AM. It has a lengthy planned block time of 15 hours and ten minutes.

This sees it arrive in Atlanta at 4:30 PM local time. As for the return leg, Etihad Airways flight EY14 tends to benefit from the transatlantic jetstream, and thus doesn’t take quite as long. After five hours on the ground, this service is scheduled to depart from Atlanta at 9:30 PM, with its arrival back in Abu Dhabi penciled in for 7:20 PM local time the next day. This gives it a block time of 13 hours and 50 minutes.

What’s It Like On Board?

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According to present fleet data from ch-aviation, Etihad Airways currently has a grand total of 12 examples of the Airbus A350-1000 at its disposal, with these stretched widebody twinjets clocking in at an average age of just 3.3 years old. The carrier also has another 15 (plus ten A350F cargo jets) on order. Despite being one of Etihad Airways’ largest planes, the A350 does not offer a first class product.

Indeed, data from aeroLOPA shows that the airline favors a relatively high-density layout, with 371 seats spread across just two classes of travel. As seen above at the 2022 Arabian Travel Market in Dubai, the best seats in the house are the business class flatbeds. The front section of the cabin features 44 of these in a 1-2-1 layout. Meanwhile, the remaining 327 economy seats have a 3-3-3 configuration.