[stephenr]

I did just that before posting that comment, to confirm that it works as I understood it (ie searching for "restaurants" rather than just searching for a contact name which has an address).

In airplane mode the search prompt in maps even changes to "Search Offline Maps".

[carlosjobim]

It's not possible to type into the search prompt of Apple Maps when in airplane mode.

[stephenr]

It is possible, but it does depend on region though.

I can't search with an offline map in Thailand, but it works fine for an offline map in Australia: https://imgur.com/a/DA803mj

[carlosjobim]

Mystery solved! Then we're both right.