Can you listen to music using AirPods without an Internet connection?
You don't need an Internet connection at all.
Per the Technical specifications under System Requirements:


iPhone and iPod touch models with the latest version of iOS
iPad models with the latest version of iPadOS
Apple Watch models with the latest version of watchOS
Mac models with the latest version of macOS
Apple TV models with the latest version of tvOS


It makes no mention of an &quot;active Internet connection.&quot;  You can play stored music without one and I've controlled Siri on many occasions when my ISP has had an outage.  She obviously can't do lookups, but will respond to local commands.