Head of state Sergio Mattarella and foreign minister Paolo Gentiloni were on Tuesday due to meet a state flight arriving in Rome from the Bangladeshi capital with the bodies of the nine Italians slain in an attack on a cafe in Dhaka by Islamic militants.
The flight is expected to arrive at Rome's Ciampino airport between 18:00 and 19:00 local time.
The Italian victims of last Friday's attack at the popular Holey Artisan cafe were Cristian Rossi; Marco Tondat; Nadia Benedetti; Adele Puglisi; Simona Monti; Claudia Maria D'Antona; Vincenzo D'Allestro; Maria Rivoli and Claudio Cappelli, according to the Italian foreign ministry.
Seven Japanese nationals were also among the 20 hostages killed by the attackers, almost all of whom were foreigners.