Perry Kouroumblis, the man arrested in Rome in connection with the infamous Easey Street murders, is on a flight to Melbourne flanked by police detectives and is expected to be formally charged with the brutal 1977 crime on his arrival.

Kouroumblis, who left Australia for Athens in 2017, was driven onto the tarmac in a black van on Monday alongside three officers where he was escorted onto a Qatar Airways flight before other passengers.

The 65-year-old has been held in Rome’s Regina Coeli jail since September 19 after being detained at Leonardo da Vinci Airport under an Interpol red notice. He had flown from Athens to Rome and family members have speculated he was lured to the Italian capital for a potential business deal.

Dressed in a black jumper with a collared shirt, wearing reading glasses and sporting a white beard, he sat quietly in economy class seat 35E without handcuffs, eating a meal and drinking water while watching the in-flight entertainment system. At one stage he was handed a book by one of the officers.

The Airbus A350, which left Rome about 1am AEST, landed in Doha about 6am. The travelling party remained in transit for several hours before departing on the second 13-hour leg to Melbourne after 10am. They are expected to land late on Tuesday night, when Kouroumblis will be charged by police. He is expected to front court on Wednesday.

Kouroumblis, who was 17 at the time of the pair’s deaths, maintains he is innocent of the murders of Suzanne Armstrong, 27, and Susan Bartlett, 28, in their Collingwood home almost 50 years ago. The women were found stabbed to death, though Armstrong’s 16-month-old son was unharmed.

The extradition follows years of investigation into the long-unsolved case, which remains one of Victoria Police’s highest priorities.

Fernando Speziali, chief commissioner of the Italian State Police’s Fiumicino Airport Judiciary Division, said the journey back to Australia brought an end to a long and complex extradition process.