Police using dogs trained to sniff out explosives are searching a Turkish Airlines plane that was diverted from New York City to Canada following a bomb threat.

Halifax Stanfield International Airport said Flight 2, bound for Istanbul, had landed safely and police were at the scene. The airport said 256 people were on board.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Nova Scotia would not comment on the details of the bomb threat and said was looking to identify the person or persons responsible.

It added that police would be "searching the Turkish Airlines plane using police dogs trained in explosives".

The RCMP said the bomb threat was received at 10.50pm local time (3.50am GMT). Flight tracking sites show the plane had already taken off from John F Kennedy International Airport in New York by then.

Last Tuesday, Air France Flight 55 from Dulles International Airport outside Washington was diverted to Halifax when an anonymous bomb threat was phoned in after the plane had taken off. The FBI later said authorities had investigated and found no credible threat, and the RCMP said investigators found no evidence of an explosive device.

That threat came after the November 13 terror attacks in Paris that killed 130 people and heightened security concerns worldwide.