AfD MP Marcel Queckemeyer barred from Ryanair Mallorca flight after gate dispute

How the dispute escalated at the gate

Ryanair refused to let Marcel Queckemeyer, a member of the Bundestag for the AfD, board a flight from Münster/Osnabrück to Palma de Mallorca. The refusal followed an argument on 18 October 2026, when another passenger disputed with an airport employee over luggage. According to the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung (NOZ), Queckemeyer joined the exchange, criticised the employee loudly and allegedly insulted him. Tagesschau NRW reported that the flight to Mallorca took off without him. The AfD state association in Lower Saxony confirmed the incident, which took place in mid-October, while Queckemeyer himself did not respond to requests for comment at the time.

Ryanair's justification

Ryanair confirmed the decision to WDR and framed it in a written statement, which read as follows:

“Passenger was rightly refused carriage on this flight by the gate agent at Münster airport because of disruptive behaviour.”

The airline said it operates a strict zero-tolerance policy toward passenger misconduct and will keep acting against improper behaviour so that all passengers and crew can travel in a respectful, stress-free setting. It did not explain in detail why it classified the conduct as improper. The statement did not name the specific words that led to the refusal.

The disputed words and the AfD's denial

The exact words Queckemeyer used remain unclear. NOZ reported that he made a derogatory remark about the employee, a claim the AfD rejects. A spokesperson for AfD Niedersachsen said he had neither personally insulted nor demeaned any employee. According to the spokesperson, his criticism was aimed at the airline's service practice, the considerable delay and its restrictive rules, not at the person at the counter. The spokesperson added that Queckemeyer values the work of Ryanair staff and had been speaking up for other passengers when he criticised the baggage rules.

Queckemeyer's background

Queckemeyer is 46 years old. He sat in the Lower Saxony state parliament from 2022 to 2025 before moving to the Bundestag. He also chairs the AfD district association Osnabrück-Land. Reports do not say whether any complaint has been filed or whether further steps are planned.

Sequence of events and reporting

The case moved from the gate incident on 18 October to the airline's confirmation to WDR on 3 November. Tagesschau NRW published its report the same evening, noting that the Mallorca flight departed without him. The AfD response followed on 4 November, when the state association rejected the insult allegation. The sequence is shown below.