KEY POINTS:
The remains of four of the five New Zealanders killed in the Airbus crash off Perpignan in southern France have arrived back in the country.
The Air New Zealand flight carrying their coffins touched down at Auckland Airport at 11am.
The plane was towed to a hangar where a private ceremony was being held for friends, family and colleagues. Dave Dobbyn was performing his song "Welcome Home".
Air New Zealand chief executive Rob Fyfe is paying tribute to the four men and engineer Murray White, whose remains have not yet been found.
Condolences from Prime Minister John Key and the Civil Aviation Authority are being passed on and the Air New Zealand kapa haka group was paying a special tribute on behalf of the airline.
Families were then due to carry their loved ones to hearses for their journeys to their last resting place.
Mr Fyfe said the arrival had been an extremely emotional time for the families and friends of the lost men and Air New Zealanders around the world.
"Arriving home in New Zealand will mark the end of another chapter as we all come to terms with the tragedy that occurred in France when we lost our men and A320 operated by XL Airways of Germany," he said.
The four men died when an Air New Zealand Airbus A320 crashed into the sea near Perpignan on November 28. Another New Zealander whose body has not been found, and two German pilots, also died.
The four New Zealanders whose bodies have come home are Air NZ Captain Brian Horrell, 52, from Auckland, Christchurch engineers Michael Gyles, 49, and Noel Marsh, 35, and Civil Aviation Authority airworthiness inspector Jeremy Cook, 58, of Wellington.
The body of Mr White, 37, an Air New Zealand engineer, is still missing.
Dave Dobbyn said on such a solemn occasion "it is an honour and a privilege for me to sing Welcome Home with the bereaved families and friends of these loved ones returning.
"Our hearts go out to them and everyone at Air New Zealand," he said.
- NEWSTALK ZB, NZPA
