Turkish Airlines has suspended its Istanbul-New York flights due to heavy snow in United States' most populous city, an official said Saturday.

John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport's Terminal 1 will be closed to operations due to weather conditions and heavy snow, the Turkish flag carrier's senior vice president for media relations, Yahya Ustun, said on Twitter.

"For this reason, our Istanbul-New York flights, and their return flights, are canceled for Jan. 29," he added.

JFK Airport is the largest international airport in New York City and one of the busiest gateways into North America.

Thousands of flights in the U.S. were canceled Saturday as parts of the East Coast braced for a shellacking by a powerful winter storm packing heavy snow and high winds, the Associated Press (AP) said.

Places in the North East, including New York and Boston, were expected to bear the brunt of the far-reaching system, which is also predicted to pummel the Mid-Atlantic.

Last week, Turkish Airlines had canceled its flights to and from Istanbul Airport due to heavy snowfall in the city./DS