Temporary Flight Restrictions or TFRs, as the name implies, are temporarily designated areas where onlyauthorized aircraft are allowed to fly. There are many reasons a TFR may be issued, including, but not limited to: the presence of the President or other parties, designated disaster areas, toxic gas/fuel/nuclear spills, top secret flights, actual or possible volcanic eruptions, and forest fires.

TFRs are issued in the form of Center Area NOTAMs which means they are FDC NOTAMs that are not issued under a specific airport but rather under the Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) whose airspace contains the TFR area. Anchorage Center (ZAN) controls the entire state of Alaska.

Every ARTCC in the U.S. has an associated 3-letter designator (for domestic use) beginning with the letter "Z" that is used as a code name for that facility. So to retrieve TFRs for Alaska, you would need to request ZAN FDC NOTAMs. Depending on the system you are using, they may or may not be retrived automatically if you request a standard briefing for your route. As a side note, there are also 4-letter designators for international NOTAMs (ICAO), but TFRs may not show up under international NOTAMs.

TFRs are issued in text form but are also normally available in graphic form on the faa.gov website. For your convenience there is a link for Graphic TFRs located on our NOTAM page. There may also be private organizations that provide a similar display. Always contact an FSS within two hours of flight to check for the latest TFRs.