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Both said they had been touched by stories of Warne’s generosity towards others.

One woman brought a beer to pay tribute to Warne ahead of his flight landing. Jennifer and Klaus Wolske also paid tribute.

“We’re just here to welcome Shane home. I lost my brother at 46 in similar circumstances,” Ms Wolske said.

Just before 8.30pm, several people filed into a hangar, awaiting Warne’s arrival.

Mitchell Iannello, 14, was among dozens of fans who waited outside gates to the hangers for Warne.

An avid cricket player himself, it was the eve of his grand final on Thursday night. He wanted to pay tribute to “the best spinner of all time”.

“I’ve seen heaps of videos and stuff [of Warne],” he said. “He bowled the ball of the century; a very good bowler.“His aunt Michelle Lynn added: “We just wanted to pay our respects and thank him for giving us all the joy he gave us.”

Warne’s body was driven out of the hanger about 10.15pm, nearly two hours after the flight touched down. If the family requests further information on his death, his body could be taken for another autopsy at the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine.

Warne’s family and friends, including business manager Andrew Neophitou, who has been in Bangkok helping finalise the return of the body, opted against a commercial flight, which would have meant a transfer in Sydney and less flexibility over where the casket was unloaded in Melbourne.

Australian government officials, including Australia’s ambassador to Thailand, Allan McKinnon, were at the airport on Thursday as the charter flight departed.

The repatriation comes six days after the leg-spin champion’s shock death at the age of 52 from a heart attack on the Thai island of Koh Samui.

On Thursday before dawn, a casket containing Warne’s body and wrapped in an Australian flag was loaded into a van outside the forensic wing of Bangkok’s Police General Hospital before being transported to the Thai capital’s secondary airport, about 30 minutes north of the city centre, which is also the main base of the Royal Thai Air Force.

Warne’s daughter Brooke posted a new tribute to her father on Instagram on Thursday.

Underneath a photograph with her father, the 24-year-old said her heart was broken and, “it doesn’t feel right, you were taken away too soon and life is so cruel”.

“I will forever cherish our final memories together laughing and joking around with each other,” she wrote. “I love you to infinity and back and I will miss you forever.”

Jackson Warne, 24, posted a new series of photos of himself with his father.

“Thank you everyone for the overwhelming amount of support, messages and love,” he said inn the post.

A state memorial service for Warne will be held at the MCG on March 30.

The ceremony will include highlights of Warne’s record-breaking career on the scoreboard, while other more touching, personal tributes are expected.

Warne’s celebrity friends Chris Martin and Ed Sheeran are keen to attend and may perform. Mick Jagger has also been touted as a possible attendee.

It is unknown whether Warne’s former fiancee, the actress Liz Hurley will make the trip to Australia.

Hurley dedicated an Instagram post to Brooke and Summer Warne on Thursday, saying: “I love you both so much and have the happiest memories of our times together. Your daddy loved you with all his heart”.

Cricketer David Warner said on Thursday the Australia team was still coming to terms with the death of Warne, who was idolised by many current players, including Warner himself, who revealed he’d had pictures of the leg-spinner on his bedroom wall as a child.

Warner broke the news of Warne’s death to teammates as Australia’s players boarded the team bus after day one of the first Test in Rawalpindi last week.

“It still hasn’t really sunk in,” Warner said. “When we first found out, we thought it was a joke,” Warner said.

Warner said Warne would be dearly missed.

“We’re going to miss rocking up to the ground and hearing his stories. He’s just such a likeable guy. Australia is worse off with him leaving.”

The announcement of Warne’s state memorial at the MCG on March 30 is good timing for Warner, but not for everyone in Australian cricket circles who want to attend the event.

The last day of the final Test in Pakistan finishes on March 25, before limited overs matches begin on March 29.

It means Warner and captain Pat Cummins – plus Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon – will be in Australia in time for the memorial, given all have been rested from the limited overs matches.

However, Australia’s white ball squad, including Steve Smith, are likely to miss the memorial due to national commitments.

“100 per cent I will be trying to get there,” Warner said. “It’s definitely going to be extremely emotional for everyone.

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Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said details for the memorial service were still being finalised, including the need to follow any COVID-19 health and safety protocols. He said there would be no restrictions on crowd numbers for the service, with the MCG’s stands able to hold more than 100,000 people.

His private funeral is expected to be held next week.

The Premier said he hoped Warne’s family had been helped by the public reaction to the player’s death.

“It is a very difficult time for them,” he said. “I hope that it would be made just that little bit easier by the fact that there has been such an outpouring of grief and support. And the farewell memorial will be a very, very important part of that.”

Warne died of a heart attack in Thailand on March 4. He was 52.

Police in Koh Samui announced on Monday that Warne had died inside the room of his villa of natural causes.

He had arrived the night before for a holiday with Neophitou and friends Gareth Edwards, Tom Hall and Fred Witherow, staying at the exclusive Samujana Villas resort on the north-east corner of the island.

Warne was found unresponsive shortly after 5pm last Friday by Neophitou, who performed CPR on him for about 20 minutes, and pronounced dead at 7.05pm at the Thai International Hospital about 15 minutes’ drive away.

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