"Please correct me if I am wrong but I seem to remember that after Autair ceased scheduled operations out of Luton in 1969 Luton went years without any scheduled services apart from weekend summer services by British Midland to Jersey and occasional years to Guernsey".
Not quite. BMA tried LTN-GLA via EMA and LBA in 1970 - didn't last that long; a mix of BAC One Elevens and Viscounts. There was also Capital Airlines (Shorts 330s or 360s). Leeds based, ops to BHD I think.