Outside of the checked baggage issue the above seems fine. But since AirAsia doesn't interline baggage, pickup and recheck would be required, so presumably he'll have to pass through passport control in order to COLLECT his checked bag, in order to recheck it. And AFAIK there's no visa-free transit for folks whose passports require a visa.

Seems to me like he'd either need a ticket on a carrier that'll interline, or a visa.

But I am hardly the expert here.