About 1000 relatives and friends of the victims of MH17 are on hand at Eindhoven Airbase in the Netherlands for the arrival of the first two planes carrying bodies.
The Dutch C130 Hercules carrying 16 victims and the Australian RAAF C17 transporter carrying 24 bodies from Kharkiv airport in the Ukraine are due to arrive in Eindhoven at 3.50pm (11.50pm AEST).
The last post will be played, followed by a minute's silence to honour those who were on board Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, downed over rebel-controlled territory almost a week ago.
Families and friends will then be able to witness bodies removed from the plane, where they will be loaded by military personnel into individual hearses.
Twenty hearses will pull up in between the two planes and the first 10 bodies from each plane will be loaded into hearses.
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Then the process will be repeated until all bodies are on board a hearse driven by military.
The bodies will then be taken north to Hilversum, Netherlands - an hour and a half's drive away - where the extensive forensic process of identifying bodies can begin.
The planes will be officially received by the Dutch king and queen as well as Australia's representatives, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Governor-General Peter Cosgrove.
Out of respect to the victims and the solemnity of the occasion, Ms Bishop and Sir Peter won't speak to the media until a later time.
Family and relatives will be stationed close to the dignitaries but out of view to the world's media.
A specialist team will begin identifying the bodies on Thursday, a process which could take months but Dutch authorities say will be conducted as speedily as possible.
The Netherlands has declared Wednesday a national day of mourning, with flags flying at half mast.
The two military planes will shuttle 200 bodies between Ukraine and the Netherlands until all bodies are in Holland for identification.
