The majority of the population of Luton and its surrounding areas (but not Breachwood Green, Caddington and Slip End) are supportive of the airport, and have been for 50 years plus. Those three villages are most affected by noise which hardly affects anywhere else. Most of the population of those villages has moved in knowing that they were likely to be affected by aircraft noise - yet still they complain!
The airport has brought wealth and employment to an area of the south-east which had suffered from de-industrialization (Vauxhall, SKF, Electrolux, Whitbread brewery, Commer/Karrier, Bedford Trucks, AC Delco and many other formerly large employers have shed jobs). In place of them are head offices of two major UK airlines, hotels, airport operational staff, aircrew, and a thousand other support companies providing everything from aircraft cleaning to precision engineering.
To say nothing of the income remitted from the airport to Luton Council - year in, year out.