taking off on 17 would be interesting, Newark direct would likely be out of the question, though i have heard other pilots say that on the 757 17 has very few restrictions..who knows. A couple of years ago in bad weather i did see all 3 of the cargo widebodies use 17.
Regarding an A320 for Malta, im travelling on 1 of the services so would be quite happy if it was. A319s have done direct flights to Croatia, which is apparantly 30 mins closer than Malta to Belfast, and the pilots were working out their fuel allowances down to the last kg, it was that tight