diff --git a/longtable-to-xtab/LICENSE b/longtable-to-xtab/LICENSE
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b4e8923c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/longtable-to-xtab/LICENSE
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+MIT License
+
+Copyright (c) 2021 Julien Dutant
+
+Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
+of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
+in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
+to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
+copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
+furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+
+The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
+copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+
+THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
+SOFTWARE.
diff --git a/longtable-to-xtab/Makefile b/longtable-to-xtab/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..10a2d22b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/longtable-to-xtab/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+DIFF ?= diff --strip-trailing-cr -u
+
+.PHONY: test
+
+test: test_latex
+
+test_latex: sample.md expected.tex longtable-to-xtab.lua
+	@pandoc --lua-filter longtable-to-xtab.lua --to=latex $< \
+		| $(DIFF) expected.tex -
+
+expected.tex: sample.md longtable-to-xtab.lua
+	pandoc --lua-filter longtable-to-xtab.lua --output $@ $<
diff --git a/longtable-to-xtab/README.md b/longtable-to-xtab/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e340f26a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/longtable-to-xtab/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,136 @@
+---
+title: "Longtable-to-xtab - switch LaTeX table outputs from longtable to xtab"
+author: "Julien Dutant"
+---
+
+Longtable-to-xtab
+=======
+
+Convert Pandoc's LaTeX table output from `longtable` to `xtab`.
+
+v1.0. Copyright: © 2021 Julien Dutant <julien.dutant@kcl.ac.uk>
+License:  MIT - see LICENSE file for details.
+
+Introduction
+------------
+
+By default Pandoc outputs uses the LaTeX package `longtable` to format
+tables in LaTeX. However `longtable` environments cannot be used in a two column document or in a multiple columns environements (`multicol`).
+In those contexts one should use the `supertabular` or `xtab` packages -
+preferably `xtab`, which is based on `supertabular` and improves it.
+
+This filter converts the LaTeX output of Pandoc for tables from
+`longtable` to `xtab` codes. It does so by implementing a [suggestion of
+Bustel](https://github.com/jgm/pandoc/issues/1023#issuecomment-656769330):
+redefine the longtable environment in LaTeX itself.
+
+Usage
+-----
+
+### Installation
+
+Copy `longtable-to-xtab.lua` in your document folder or in your pandoc data
+dir path.
+
+### Usage
+
+Add `-L longtable-to-xtab.lua` to your Pandoc command line, or add
+`filter: longtable-to-xtab.lua` to a document's metadata block.
+
+Details
+----
+
+### Dependencies
+
+Unlike `longtable`, the `xtab` and `supertabular` LaTeX packages are not
+included in the core list of LaTeX packages. In Linux Debian distributions
+they are included in the package `texlive-latex-extra`.
+
+### The duplicate headers issue and how the filter solves it
+
+If a table has both headers and a caption, Pandoc generates a first header
+(caption and headers) and main header (headers only). See the code below for an illustration. If we simply turned the table into an `xtabular` and erase the `\endfirsthead` and `\endhead` commands we would get two header rows.
+
+```latex
+\begin{longtable}[]{@{}
+  >{\centering\arraybackslash}p{(\columnwidth - 6\tabcolsep) * \real{0.17}}
+  >{\raggedright\arraybackslash}p{(\columnwidth - 6\tabcolsep) * \real{0.11}}
+  >{\raggedleft\arraybackslash}p{(\columnwidth - 6\tabcolsep) * \real{0.22}}
+  >{\raggedright\arraybackslash}p{(\columnwidth - 6\tabcolsep) * \real{0.36}}@{}}
+\caption{Here's the \emph{caption}. It, too, may span multiple
+lines.}\tabularnewline
+\toprule
+Centered Header & Default Aligned & Right Aligned & Left
+Aligned\footnote{Footnote in a table.} \\ \addlinespace
+\midrule
+\endfirsthead
+\toprule
+Centered Header & Default Aligned & Right Aligned & Left
+Aligned{} \\ \addlinespace
+\midrule
+\endhead
+First & row & 12.0 & Example of a row that spans multiple
+lines. \\ \addlinespace
+Second & row & 5.0 & Here's another one. Note the blank line between
+rows. \\ \addlinespace
+\bottomrule
+\end{longtable}
+
+```
+
+Possible solutions:
+
+1. Use `\iffalse ...\endif` to turn off LaTeX on the main header. **This is
+  the solution adopted here.** It's a bit of a hack.
+
+  Limitation: from `xtab`'s point of view the remaining first header row is a normal row. Not ideal if the table does span several pages.
+
+2. strip the markdown table of its headers, and add the headers as
+  `\tablefirstheader` (includes footnote) and `\tableheader` (*footnotes stripped and other unique identifiers need to be stripped from the
+  repeat header*). See below Pandoc code without headers (the
+  `\toprule` should be redefined to nothing).
+
+  ```latex
+  \begin{longtable}[]{@{}
+    >{\centering\arraybackslash}p{(\columnwidth - 6\tabcolsep) * \real{0.17}}
+    >{\raggedright\arraybackslash}p{(\columnwidth - 6\tabcolsep) * \real{0.11}}
+    >{\raggedleft\arraybackslash}p{(\columnwidth - 6\tabcolsep) * \real{0.22}}
+    >{\raggedright\arraybackslash}p{(\columnwidth - 6\tabcolsep) * \real{0.36}}@{}}
+  \toprule
+  \endhead
+  First & row & 12.0 & Example of a row that spans multiple
+  lines. \\ \addlinespace
+  Second & row & 5.0 & Here's another one. Note the blank line between
+  rows. \\ \addlinespace
+  \bottomrule
+  ```
+
+  and see below the ideal `xtab` code for the first and main headers:
+
+  ```latex
+  \tablecaption{Here's the \emph{caption}. It, too, may span multiple
+  lines.}
+  \tablefirsthead{\toprule
+  Centered Header & Default Aligned & Right Aligned & Left
+  Aligned\footnote{Footnote in a table.} \\ \midrule}
+  \tablehead{\toprule Centered Header & Default Aligned & Right Aligned & Left Aligned \\ \midrule}
+  \begin{center}
+  \begin{xtabular}[]{@{}
+    >{\centering\arraybackslash}p{(\columnwidth - 6\tabcolsep) * \real{0.17}}
+    >{\raggedright\arraybackslash}p{(\columnwidth - 6\tabcolsep) * \real{0.11}}
+    >{\raggedleft\arraybackslash}p{(\columnwidth - 6\tabcolsep) * \real{0.22}}
+    >{\raggedright\arraybackslash}p{(\columnwidth - 6\tabcolsep) * \real{0.36}}@{}}
+  First & row & 12.0 & Example of a row that spans multiple
+  lines. \\ \addlinespace
+  Second & row & 5.0 & Here's another one. Note the blank line between
+  rows. \\ \addlinespace
+  \bottomrule
+  \end{xtabular}
+  \end{center}
+  ```
+
+Contributing
+------------
+
+PRs welcome.
+
diff --git a/longtable-to-xtab/expected.tex b/longtable-to-xtab/expected.tex
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6ea45c78
--- /dev/null
+++ b/longtable-to-xtab/expected.tex
@@ -0,0 +1,82 @@
+This is a two column layout with tables. Without the
+\texttt{longtable-to-xtab} filter trying to convert this document to PDF
+fails because Pandoc's favoured table package, \texttt{longtable}, isn't
+compatible with multiple column layouts.
+
+\hypertarget{table-with-headers-and-caption}{%
+\section{Table with headers and
+caption}\label{table-with-headers-and-caption}}
+
+{
+  {\renewcommand{\endfirsthead}{\iffalse}
+  \let\endhead\fi
+        
+
+\tablecaption{Here's the \emph{caption}. It, too, may span multiple
+lines.}
+
+\begin{longtable}[]{@{}
+  >{\centering\arraybackslash}p{(\columnwidth - 6\tabcolsep) * \real{0.17}}
+  >{\raggedright\arraybackslash}p{(\columnwidth - 6\tabcolsep) * \real{0.11}}
+  >{\raggedleft\arraybackslash}p{(\columnwidth - 6\tabcolsep) * \real{0.22}}
+  >{\raggedright\arraybackslash}p{(\columnwidth - 6\tabcolsep) * \real{0.36}}@{}}
+\caption{Here's the \emph{caption}. It, too, may span multiple
+lines.}\tabularnewline
+\toprule
+Centered Header & Default Aligned & Right Aligned & Left
+Aligned\footnote{Footnote in a table.} \\ \addlinespace
+\midrule
+\endfirsthead
+\toprule
+Centered Header & Default Aligned & Right Aligned & Left
+Aligned{} \\ \addlinespace
+\midrule
+\endhead
+First & row & 12.0 & Example of a row that spans multiple
+lines. \\ \addlinespace
+Second & row & 5.0 & Here's another one. Note the blank line between
+rows. \\ \addlinespace
+\bottomrule
+\end{longtable}
+
+}
+
+\hypertarget{table-without-headers}{%
+\section{Table without headers}\label{table-without-headers}}
+
+\tablecaption{this table doesn't have headers.}
+
+\begin{longtable}[]{@{}
+  >{\centering\arraybackslash}p{(\columnwidth - 6\tabcolsep) * \real{0.17}}
+  >{\raggedright\arraybackslash}p{(\columnwidth - 6\tabcolsep) * \real{0.11}}
+  >{\raggedleft\arraybackslash}p{(\columnwidth - 6\tabcolsep) * \real{0.22}}
+  >{\raggedright\arraybackslash}p{(\columnwidth - 6\tabcolsep) * \real{0.36}}@{}}
+\caption{this table doesn't have headers.}\tabularnewline
+\toprule
+\endhead
+First & row & 12.0 & Example of a row that spans multiple
+lines. \\ \addlinespace
+Second & row & 5.0 & Here's another one. Note the blank line between
+rows. \\ \addlinespace
+\bottomrule
+\end{longtable}
+
+\hypertarget{table-without-caption}{%
+\section{Table without caption}\label{table-without-caption}}
+
+\begin{longtable}[]{@{}
+  >{\centering\arraybackslash}p{(\columnwidth - 6\tabcolsep) * \real{0.17}}
+  >{\raggedright\arraybackslash}p{(\columnwidth - 6\tabcolsep) * \real{0.11}}
+  >{\raggedleft\arraybackslash}p{(\columnwidth - 6\tabcolsep) * \real{0.22}}
+  >{\raggedright\arraybackslash}p{(\columnwidth - 6\tabcolsep) * \real{0.36}}@{}}
+\toprule
+Centered Header & Default Aligned & Right Aligned & Left
+Aligned \\ \addlinespace
+\midrule
+\endhead
+First & row & 12.0 & Example of a row that spans multiple
+lines. \\ \addlinespace
+Second & row & 5.0 & Here's another one. Note the blank line between
+rows. \\ \addlinespace
+\bottomrule
+\end{longtable}
diff --git a/longtable-to-xtab/longtable-to-xtab.lua b/longtable-to-xtab/longtable-to-xtab.lua
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c70a34a5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/longtable-to-xtab/longtable-to-xtab.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,105 @@
+--- # Longtable-to-xtab - switch LaTeX table outputs from longtable to xtab.
+--
+-- This Lua filter for Pandoc converts Pandoc's default `longtable` output
+-- of tables in LaTeX with `xtab` tables.
+--
+-- @author Julien Dutant <julien.dutant@kcl.ac.uk>
+-- @copyright (c) 2021 Julien Dutant
+-- @license MIT - see LICENSE file for details.
+-- @release 1.0
+
+--- Add a block to the document's header-includes meta-data field.
+-- @param meta the document's metadata block
+-- @param block Pandoc block element (e.g. RawBlock or Para) to be added to header-includes
+-- @return meta the modified metadata block
+local function add_header_includes(meta, block)
+
+    local header_includes
+
+    -- make meta['header-includes'] a list if needed
+    if meta['header-includes'] and meta['header-includes'].t == 'MetaList' then
+        header_includes = meta['header-includes']
+    else
+        header_includes = pandoc.MetaList{meta['header-includes']}
+    end
+
+    -- insert `block` in header-includes and add it to `meta`
+
+    header_includes[#header_includes + 1] =
+        pandoc.MetaBlocks{block}
+
+    meta['header-includes'] = header_includes
+
+    return meta
+end
+
+--- Main filter
+
+local filter = {
+
+  Meta = function (element)
+
+    local latex_code = [[
+  \usepackage{xtab}
+  \renewenvironment{longtable}{%
+    \begin{center}\begin{xtabular}%
+    }{%
+    \end{xtabular}\end{center}%
+    }
+  \renewcommand{\caption}[1]{}
+  \renewcommand{\endhead}{}
+  ]]
+
+    add_header_includes(element, pandoc.RawBlock('latex', latex_code))
+
+    return element
+
+  end,
+
+ Table = function (element)
+
+    if element.caption and #element.caption['long'] > 0 then
+
+      local result = pandoc.List:new({})
+      local inlines = pandoc.List:new({})
+
+      inlines:insert(pandoc.RawInline('latex', '\\tablecaption{'))
+      inlines:extend(pandoc.utils.blocks_to_inlines(element.caption['long']))
+      inlines:insert(pandoc.RawInline('latex', '}'))
+
+      result:insert(pandoc.Plain(inlines))
+
+      -- place the table
+      result:insert(element)
+
+      -- if the table has both header and caption we need to hide the
+      -- duplicate header. We turn `\endfirsthead` into `\iffalse`
+      -- and `\endhead` into `\fi`. The latter must be present
+      -- when `\iffalse` is encountered, so we use `\let` for the
+      -- latter and `\renewcommand` for the former.
+      -- we wrap the whole in `{...}` to avoid affecting `\endhead`
+      -- down the line.
+      if #element.head[2] > 0 then
+
+        latex_pre = [[{
+  {\renewcommand{\endfirsthead}{\iffalse}
+  \let\endhead\fi
+        ]]
+        latex_post = '}'
+
+        result:insert(1, pandoc.RawBlock('latex', latex_pre))
+        result:insert(pandoc.RawBlock('latex', latex_post))
+
+      end
+
+      return result
+
+    end
+
+  end
+}
+
+-- return filter if targetting LaTeX
+if FORMAT:match('latex') then
+  return {filter}
+end
diff --git a/longtable-to-xtab/sample.md b/longtable-to-xtab/sample.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..99c628a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/longtable-to-xtab/sample.md
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+---
+classoption:
+  - twocolumn
+  - landscape
+---
+
+This is a two column layout with tables. Without the `longtable-to-xtab`
+filter trying to convert this document to PDF fails because Pandoc's
+favoured table package, `longtable`, isn't compatible with multiple
+column layouts.
+
+# Table with headers and caption
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------
+ Centered   Default           Right Left
+  Header    Aligned         Aligned Aligned[^1]
+----------- ------- --------------- -------------------------
+   First    row                12.0 Example of a row that
+                                    spans multiple lines.
+
+  Second    row                 5.0 Here's another one. Note
+                                    the blank line between
+                                    rows.
+-------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Table: Here's the *caption*. It, too, may span
+  multiple lines.
+
+[^1]: Footnote in a table.
+
+# Table without headers
+
+----------- ------- --------------- -------------------------
+   First    row                12.0 Example of a row that
+                                    spans multiple lines.
+
+  Second    row                 5.0 Here's another one. Note
+                                    the blank line between
+                                    rows.
+----------- ------ ---------------- ----------------------------
+
+Table: this table doesn't have headers.
+
+# Table without caption
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------
+ Centered   Default           Right Left
+  Header    Aligned         Aligned Aligned
+----------- ------- --------------- -------------------------
+   First    row                12.0 Example of a row that
+                                    spans multiple lines.
+
+  Second    row                 5.0 Here's another one. Note
+                                    the blank line between
+                                    rows.
+-------------------------------------------------------------