A window for a subsonic passenger aircraft that provide maximum optical visibility while minimizing the amount of exterior acoustic noise transmitted through the windows to the passenger cabin during flight of the aircraft includes at least one substantially transparent window pane having the shape of an ellipse. The ellipse has a major axis and a minor axis, and the major axis is about twice as long as the minor axis and is disposed generally perpendicular to the direction of flight of the aircraft. In one exemplary embodiment, the window has a height of about 20 inches and a transparent area of about 141 square inches, and includes a pair of substantially similar window panes disposed in a parallel, spaced-apart relationship circumscribed by a mounting bezel. A plurality of the windows are each mounted with the bezels in spaced-apart rows in each of the opposite sidewalls of the aircraft fuselage.